Professor
College of Agricultural and Life Sciences | Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences
Hometown: Grew up on a farm near Mount Vernon, Iowa.
My long-running interests have been genetics broadly, and the genetic basis for variation in reproduction and health in cattle specifically. Particular areas of interest include genetics of twin birth and susceptibility to the pathogen responsible for Johne’s disease. Current aim of work in my lab has is identification of specific DNA sequence changes causing variation in these traits.
Talks:
The Trio allele story
A remarkable cow in New Zealand had three sets of triplets. Work at UW-Madison with descendants of this cow revealed why some individuals in species that typically produce single offspring are prone to produce twins (or triplets).