Dr. Allison Vander Plaats
Assistant Professor
Food Animal Ambulatory Medicine
Education
DVM, Cornell University
BS, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
Past Experience
Following her DVM graduation from Cornell University, Dr. Vander Plaats returned to the California Central Valley where she joined a mostly dairy veterinary practice. There she worked with large dairy herds with “some beef cattle, sheep and goats thrown in.” She later joined the faculty at the College of the Sequoias, an ag-based community college where she taught undergraduate courses in animal science, dairy science and veterinary science and managed the school-owned animals. In recent years, Dr. Vander Plaats has served as a postdoc in Veterinary Field Services while working on a PhD.
Specialty Area
With a strong background in dairy and her interest in pharmacology, Dr. Vander Plaats has focused her research efforts primarily on dairy topics, including highly pathogenic avian influenza in dairy cattle, pharmacokinetics of drugs in unlabeled species such as goats and other applied dairy topics.
Interesting Fact
Dr. Vander Plaats was the recipient last year of the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Resident of the Year Award. She spent half of her residency dedicated to a USDA NIFA grant on enhanced delivery of bovine production medicine using Cloud-Based Teaching Modules.
Dr. Vander Plaats says…
“I get great fulfilment from teaching and have professional interests related to antibiotic stewardship, pain management of ruminant species and veterinary education from both the student and producer side.”
May 2026