THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE DAIRY INDUSTRY DEPENDS UPON MAINTAINING EFFICIENT PRODUCTION WHILE ADDRESSING PUBLIC CONCERN SURROUNDING ANIMAL WELFARE. THE CURRENT TREND TOWARDS GROUP-HOUSING DAIRY CALVES PRESENTS BOTH WELFARE BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES INCLUDING INCREASED RISK OF RESPIRATORY DISEASE AND PROVIDES OPPORTUNITY TO UTILIZE SOCIAL BEHAVIOR AS A NOVEL METRIC OF ANIMAL WELFARE. WE PROPOSE TO APPLY NETWORK ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES AS A POWERFUL TOOL TO UNCOVER AND INTERPRET ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN SOCIAL BEHAVIOR AND ANIMAL HEALTH. MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY REMAIN COSTLY ANIMAL WELFARE ISSUES AND RECENT EVIDENCE SUGGESTS MANY CASES OF SUBCLINICAL RESPIRATORY DISEASE ARE UNDIAGNOSED. EXTENSIVE EVIDENCE ACROSS SPECIES POINTS TO ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN HEALTH STATUS AND SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS. HOWEVER NO RESEARCH HAS EVALUATED SOCIAL INTERACTION AS A POTENTIAL INDICATOR OF CATTLE HEALTH. WHEREAS DATA COLLECTION HAS HISTORICALLY LIMITED DEVELOPMENT OF BEHAVIORAL INDICATORS OF ANIMAL WELFARE RECENT TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS PROVIDE RICH OPPORTUNITY TO AUTOMATICALLY GATHER INDIVIDUAL DATA INCLUDING ANIMAL LOCATION. OUR OBJECTIVE IS TO EVALUATE EFFECTS OF SUBCLINICAL AND CLINICAL RESPIRATORY DISEASE ON PROXIMITY-BASED SOCIAL NETWORKS IN DAIRY CALVES. THESE RESULTS WILL PROVIDE A FOUNDATION FOR EXAMINING NETWORK MEASURES OF SOCIAL BEHAVIOR AS EFFICIENT AND FLEXIBLE METRICS OF ANIMAL WELFARE. USING SOCIAL BEHAVIOR AS AN INDICATOR AND POSSIBLE PREDICTOR OF HEALTH WE SEE POTENTIAL FOR TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGES IN HOW ANIMAL WELFARE IS EVALUATED AND PREVENTATIVELY ADDRESSED ULTIMATELY IMPROVING DAIRY SUSTAINABILITY.