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Department of Dairy and Food Science

Feed the world – with science

Dairy is a huge industry that helps feed the world. And the science behind it helps employ a lot of SDSU grads. All of the decisions that go into the products consumers pick up from their grocery aisle were meticulously made by professionals in the dairy and food science field. SDSU's Dairy and Food Science Department has been an industry-leading program in the United States for more than a century. Starting with the founding of the Dakota Agricultural College in the 1880s, officially forming as a department in 1907 and more than doubling in enrollment since 1967, dairy science is a hallmark of SDSU's culture–and a high-demand, high-earnings field, to boot.

Let's dive into what makes SDSU's Dairy and Food Science Department a magnificent major choice for those in search of a lucrative career.

Fast Facts

Number of Students

48

Undergraduate

29

Graduate

Student/Faculty Ratio

9:1

Job Placement

100%

Scholarships Awarded

58

Recipients

$175K

Awarded

Department of Dairy and Food Science News

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SDSU faculty recognized for excellence

The annual South Dakota State University Celebration of Faculty Excellence recognized 30 faculty members, researchers and scientists Tuesday. The event honors faculty members in the university's colleges for outstanding research, teaching and service.
Jana in lab

Save the peels: How bananas can be used to fight the plastic waste crisis

Srinivas Janaswamy, associate professor of food chemistry, has demonstrated how banana peels can be utilized to create biodegradable films — plastic-like material that will decompose in the environment and may one day replace petroleum-based plastic as the dominant food packaging material.

SDSU researcher turning switchgrass into bioplastics

South Dakota State University researcher Srinivas Janaswamy has demonstrated how switchgrass can be utilized to create bioplastics.