Alyssa Neff

Born and raised in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Alyssa grew up actively involved in 4-H, showing and exhibiting projects and animals at her county fair and the Pennsylvania Farm Show. A love for all things textiles, plants, poultry, sheep, and cattle developed during her time in 4-H and growing up around the family farm. After graduating high school, she decided to head west to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in material and animal science.

While at the university, she had the privilege of working in both the material science laboratory and the dairy laboratory, which allowed her to gain a love of research. Notably, working under the the direction of Dr. Paul Kononoff in the dairy laboratory allowed her to get hands-on experience in dairy cattle metabolism and scientific writing. In May of 2025, she graduated and was ready to head back east to pursue a master’s degree in dairy nutrition under the direction of Dr. Gonzalo Ferreira. Alyssa’s research involves both agronomy and dairy nutrition with research in alfalfa and its digestibility within dairy cattle.