ANIMAL NUTRITIONISTS HAVE USED MATHEMATICAL MODELS FOR OVER 100 YEARS.THEY ROUTINELY USE MODELS TO EVALUATE DIETS AND PREDICT EXCRETION OF NUTRIENTS INTO THE ENVIRONMENT. HOWEVER, NUTRITIONISTS HAVE FEW OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN THE UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES OF MODELING. THIS IS A PROBLEM BECAUSE IMPROPER USE OF MODELS CAN HURT ANIMAL PERFORMANCE AND GLOBAL LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION.OUR OVERARCHING OBJECTIVE IS TO TEACH NUTRITIONISTS THE PRINCIPLES OF MODELING WITH WORKSHOPS AT A MAJOR INTERNATIONAL MEETING.SPECIFICALLY, WE WILL OFFER A SERIES OF THREE WORKSHOPS TO STUDENTS, FACULTY, INDUSTRY, AND OTHERS AT AMERICAN DAIRY SCIENCE ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETINGS. THESE WORKSHOPS WILL ILLUSTRATE HOW MODELS ARE CONSTRUCTED, EVALUATED, AND APPLIED TOWARD PROBLEMS IN ANIMAL NUTRITION.BASED ON PREVIOUS WORKSHOPS, WE EXPECT A LARGE AUDIENCE (100 ATTENDEES) AT EACH OF THE CURRENT WORKSHOPS.WE EXPECT AN EVEN LARGER AUDIENCE WILL ACCESS WORKSHOP MATERIALS (LECTURES AND EXERCISES FILES) AFER WE PUBLISH THEM ONPUBLIC WEBSITES. THE IMPACT OF THIS WORKSHOP WILL BE TRAINING A NEW GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS IN MODELING.THIS WILL FOSTER IMPROVEMENT IN NUTRITION MODELS, WHICH IN TURN, WILL HELP MAXIMIZE ANIMAL NUTRIENT UTILIZATION AND EFFICIENCY.