Faculty

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

Improving equine management, behavior and welfare with a specific interest in donkeys, mules, hinnies and working equids in developing countries.

The driving force in my current research program is to be at the forefront of environmental and production sustainability and ecological integrity. To achieve this vision my research is focused into three distinct, yet overlapping applied research themes; (1) Aquaculture, (2) Invasion Biology and (3) Environmental/Ecological Toxicology. This research usually addresses data gaps and provides scientific solutions, determined through rigorous experimentation, meeting the immediate biological and engineering needs of the aquaculture industry and natural resource community.

Development of statistical methods and computational algorithms for quantitative and statistical genetics, including genomic prediction and genome-wide association studies. Development of software tools for whole-genome analyses. Statistical models for –omic data.

My research focus is on the husbandry, behavior, and welfare of small to large scale poultry production. I am particularly interested in understanding the challenges facing small scale and backyard poultry flocks as well as the impacts of housing systems on poultry health and welfare on large scale facilities. I am also interested in developing on farm assessment tools for producers to monitor the health and welfare of their own flocks.

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

Mainly focused on clinical nutrition of dogs and cats, nutrient bioavailability, and amino acid nutrition

Research in immunogenetics, molecular genetics, functional genomics, and bioinformatics in poultry. Focused on elucidating the molecular and cellular mechanisms of host-pathogen interaction including disease resistance, immune response, and pathogenesis of infection. The overall goals are to understand genetic regulation of host response and basic mechanisms of pathogen virulence in animals, to identify host and pathogen genes that are involved in the host-pathogen interplay. The pathogens of interest are food-borne bacteria such as Campylobacter and Salmonella and avian influenza virus.

Meat safety; meat quality; shelf-life of meat and meat products; post-harvest food-borne pathogen control; characterizing pathogen and whole microbial community profiles present in meat production chain; effect of feeding system on degree of antimicrobial resistance and pathogen prevalence in livestock and poultry.

Animal behavior, animal welfare, conservation behavior; behavioral assays of animal welfare, environmental enrichment for zoo and aquarium animals; zoo animal behavior and its impact on zoo-goers.