People

Research focuses on developing and applying epidemiological tools to monitor food safety hazards and identify mitigation strategies to reduce the dissemination of foodborne pathogens in pre-harvest and the spread of infectious diseases in agricultural systems (including integrated crop-livestock, diversified, organic farms, small-scale and backyard farms).

Research interests are focused in three major areas: 1) Using "traditional" epidemiological techniques and GIS and spatial statistics to understand how avian diseases move in time and space. 2) Using Next Generation Sequencing technology to gain insights into the virulence and survivability of pathogens including Salmonella and Campylobacter. 3) Gaining a better understanding of 'micro'-commercial (i.e. small scale poultry production) with respect to environmental sustainability, poultry health, and food safety.

Dairy herd health management including hypocalcemia, lameness, judicious use of antibiotics, and feeding and silage management

Computer modeling of nutrient metabolism systems analysis of dairy feed management and production including prevention of metabolic disease, and evaluating mitochondrial function of dairy cattle.

Neuroendocrine regulation of feeding behavior, body weight and glucose control; Mechanisms linking psychological stress and metabolic disease

Fish Ecology; Conservation Science; Ecosystem Ecology; Global Change; Macroecology; Fisheries Management; Freshwater Mussels

Ecology, conservation, and genetics of wild carnivores.

Conservation biology of wild vertebrates, primarily reptiles and amphibians.

Ecological Physiology; Integrative Stress Biology; Environmental Genomics; Climate Change Biology.

Study of genetic markers in domestic animals. Equine genomics; development of a genome-scan microsattellite panel for linkage analysis and chromosomal location of traits of interest.