Larissa Becker grew up in the swine industry through her family’s commercial swine operation and involvement in the show pig industry. She received her B.S. degree in Animal Science from Iowa State University in 2020. Her involvement in research as an undergraduate and through internships helped develop her passion for swine nutrition which ultimately led her to graduate school. Larissa completed her M.S. degree in swine nutrition from Kansas State University in 2021 and is currently a Ph.D. candidate. Her research during her Ph.D. program has been diverse given her career aspirations as a production nutritionist. She has conducted research with nursery pigs evaluating clay-based feed additives during naturally occurring health challenges, the effects of an active form of vitamin D, and evaluated the effects of folic acid on growth performance and survivability of nursery pigs. Currently, she is evaluating a novel open-farrowing concept with a large swine production system.