The recipient of the Continental Grain scholarship for dairy nutrition is Alex Bach from the University of Minnesota. Alex was born on April 6, 1970 in Barcelona, Spain. He received a veterinary medicine degree from the University of Barcelona in 1994. He completed his M.S. degree in 1996 and recently defended his Ph.D. thesis; both degrees have been under the supervision of Marshall Stern, at the University of Minnesota. Alex has developed a wide range of research tools for studying dairy cattle nutrition in his M.S. and Ph.D. programs, including expertise with an elaborate dual-flow continuous-culture system; utilization of cows surgically prepared with an elevated carotid artery and in-dwelling catheters in the hepatic, portal, and mesenteric veins; in situ and in vitro procedures for estimating ruminal protein degradation and intestinal digestion; and design and implementation of applied dairy nutrition research. Using these techniques, Alex has conducted research on the variation in composition and digestion of protein supplements, the influence of protein source on intestinal amino acid supply, the effect of carbohydrates on ruminal microbial fermentation, and the impact of methionine supplementation on nitrogen metabolism and milk production of dairy cows. He is senior or co-author of five refereed journal articles, seven abstracts, six proceedings manuscripts and one book chapter. Alex Bach has also taught lectures and laboratories in ruminant nutrition to animal science and veterinary students at the University of Minnesota and has received outstanding evaluations from the students. In recognition of Alex's excellent research and academic record, he received the outstanding Ph.D. student award from the Department of Animal Science at the University of Minnesota in 1998.