What You'll Do

  • Conduct research concerning animal nutrition, breeding, or management to improve products or processes.
  • Advise producers about improved products and techniques that could enhance their animal production efforts.
  • Study nutritional requirements of animals and nutritive values of animal feed materials.
  • Study effects of management practices, processing methods, feed, or environmental conditions on quality and quantity of animal products, such as eggs and milk.
  • Develop improved practices in feeding, housing, sanitation, or parasite and disease control of animals.
  • Research and control animal selection and breeding practices to increase production efficiency and improve animal quality.
  • Determine genetic composition of animal populations and heritability of traits, using principles of genetics.
  • Crossbreed animals with existing strains or cross strains to obtain new combinations of desirable characteristics.
  • Write up or orally communicate research findings to the scientific community, producers, and the public.

Essential Skills

Reading Comprehension 4.12/5
Writing 4.0/5
Science 4.0/5
Critical Thinking 4.0/5
Complex Problem Solving 4.0/5
Judgment and Decision Making 4.0/5
Active Listening 3.88/5
Speaking 3.88/5
Active Learning 3.88/5
Monitoring 3.75/5
Systems Analysis 3.75/5
Mathematics 3.38/5

Career Fit Overview

Use this summary to understand the kind of profile this role rewards. It helps you judge whether this career looks like a stronger match than your current role, a nearby move worth exploring, or a broader path to compare more seriously.

Top passions

  • Analyst: Investigating problems and finding patterns keeps you engaged.
  • Maker: Building and fixing energizes you. You like tangible results and practical tools.
  • Organizer: Bringing order to data and processes satisfies you.

Common styles

Intellectual Curiosity, Innovation, Attention to Detail, Dependability, Achievement Orientation

Want a personal read on fit? Take the free assessment and compare this career to your current role, nearby alternatives, and broader stronger-fit options.

Key Abilities

This career demands strong capabilities in the following areas:

Oral Comprehension 4.0/5
Written Comprehension 4.0/5
Oral Expression 4.0/5
Written Expression 4.0/5
Problem Sensitivity 4.0/5
Deductive Reasoning 4.0/5
Inductive Reasoning 4.0/5
Speech Clarity 4.0/5

Technologies & Tools

Autodesk AutoCAD Best Linear Unbiased Prediction BLUP Cowculator COWGAME DAGRIS Database software Deoxyribonucleic acid DNA sequence analysis software Domestic Animal Diversity Information Service DAD-IS Email software ESRI ArcGIS software FEEDLOT CALC Master Ration Calculator Microsoft Access Microsoft Excel Microsoft Office software Microsoft PowerPoint Microsoft Word Nutrition Balance Analyzer NUTBAL Online Mendelian Inheritance in Animals OMIA Oracle HRIS

Work Environment & Strengths

Common Strengths for This Career

  • Intellectual Curiosity (High importance: 4.69/5)
  • Innovation (High importance: 4.55/5)
  • Attention to Detail (High importance: 4.54/5)
  • Dependability (High importance: 4.51/5)
  • Achievement Orientation (High importance: 4.41/5)

Want to see how YOUR strengths align with this career?

Take Free 15-Min Assessment →

How to Become One

This career requires extensive preparation, typically including a graduate degree (Master's or Doctoral) and several years of experience. Most professionals in this field have invested significant time in education and training.

Similar Careers to Explore

Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists

99.8% similar profile

Biochemists and Biophysicists

99.7% similar profile

Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers

99.4% similar profile

Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers

99.4% similar profile

Microbiologists

99.3% similar profile

Industrial Ecologists

99.3% similar profile

Hydrologists

99.3% similar profile

Soil and Plant Scientists

99.2% similar profile

Also Known As

This career is known by many different job titles across industries. Here are all the variations:

Animal Anatomist Animal Behaviorist Animal Biologist Animal Geneticist Animal Nutrition Consultant Animal Nutritionist Animal Scientist Bacteriologist Beef Cattle Nutritionist Beef Cattle Specialist Behaviorist Companion Animal Nutritionist Dairy Bacteriologist Dairy Nutrition Consultant Dairy Nutrition Specialist Dairy Research Nutritionist Dairy Scientist Nutrition Partner Nutrition Specialist Poultry Scientist Research Scientist Scientist Sericulturist Swine Extension Field Specialist Swine Genetics Researcher Swine Nutritionist Swine Specialist

Career Fit FAQs

Is this career a good fit for me

This page shows the role itself. To see personal fit, use the assessment to compare your interests, motivations, and strengths against this career and against the role you are in now.

Can this help if I want to stay in my field

Yes. Many people use career pages like this to compare nearby roles in the same field and see whether they need a full switch or a better-fit version of the work they already know.

What should I compare first

Start with the daily tasks, the preparation level, and the work-style signals on this page. Then use the assessment to see whether this role looks like a stronger fit than your current role or just a different title.