Animal Sciences

Late last year, as part of the University of Missouri’s mission to strengthen student success, Mizzou offered funding opportunities to enhance teaching and learning. Eric Aldrich, an assistant teaching professor of atmospheric science, secured $100,000 which has gone toward the Weather Analysis and Visualization (WAV) Lab. The funding includes upgrades to the computing infrastructure and the installation of a suite of broadcast-ready weather graphics and equipment.

Aug. 29, 2022

Enhancing Education

CAFNR secures nearly $700,000 to enhance teaching and learning for students.
Heather Vaughn (Snow)

May 9, 2022

Senior Spotlight: Heather Vaughn (Snow)

Vaughn will graduate with a degree in animal sciences.

Dec. 13, 2021

Senior Spotlight: Jacob Rissman

Rissman will graduate with a degree in animal sciences.

May 10, 2021

Senior Spotlight: Maria Kemerling

Maria Kemerling began cheering in 2010 – and knew she was going to love being on the sidelines as a Mizzou cheerleader when she first stepped on the University of Missouri campus as a freshman in 2017. Now, as Kemerling heads toward graduation, she has numerous game-day experiences at Faurot Field and Mizzou Arena under her belt, as well as three trips to the National Cheerleaders Association’s (NCA) national competition. She has learned how to balance a demanding athletic schedule with her schoolwork as a student in animal sciences. “Mizzou Cheer has been a huge part of my college experience…

May 7, 2020

Karl Kerns Honored with Distinguished Dissertation Award

Karl Kerns, a postdoctoral fellow in animal sciences, has received the MU Distinguished Dissertation Award from the Graduate School as part of the Sixth Annual Graduate and Postdoctoral Award Ceremony. Kerns’ dissertation, “Zinc Ion Fluxes on the Pathway to Mammalian Sperm Fertilization Competency,” was supervised by Peter Sutovsky, professor of animal sciences. The research used a combination of new techniques to explain sperm zinc ion fluxes and develop a new sperm fertilization competency test. The test has been submitted for international patenting by the University of Missouri. The findings from Kerns’ dissertation have been published in the highly regarded Nature…
G.B. Thompson, far right in the back row, served as the University of Missouri Livestock Judging team coach for 10 years. Photo courtesy of George Jesse.

May 6, 2020

Reflections: G.B. Thompson

When I was in grade school in Pettis County (Quisenberry Grade School), there was a World Book Encyclopedia with a chapter on animals in it. I practically wore that chapter in the book out I read it so often. I had a passion for animals incredibly early. I just loved to be around livestock. I grew up on a dairy farm, where we also raised hogs and sheep. I got involved in 4-H at a young age and was part of the 4-H livestock judging team right away. J.U. Morris was our county Extension agent and coached the livestock judging…
Peter Sutovsky was recently named a2019 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Nov. 27, 2019

‘The Pinnacle of My Career’

Growing up in Slovakia, a young Peter Sutovsky would often hold his own science-based lectures in front of his elementary classmates. Those lectures would generally focus on insects, as Sutovsky had a big interest in entomology. “I would bring in my insect collection and explain how the organs of a male beetle were different than the organs of a female beetle,” Sutovsky. “It was a bit precocious – and an early introduction to the birds and the bees. There was definitely a natural curiosity and interest in science from a young age.” Little did Sutovsky know then that his early…
Chris Elsik, associate professor of plant and animal sciences, and fellow CAFNR researcher and geneticist Bob Schnabel, associate professor in the Division of Animal Sciences, are applying their knowledge and experience of cattle and dairy genetics to the issue of Varroa mites in honey bees. The duo looks at the bees simply as little livestock.

April 13, 2018

Breeding a Better Bee

The honey bee is as busy as ever. From almonds to zucchini, honey bees pollinate more than 90 agricultural crops in the United States — worth more than $15 billion annually. In 2017, the apiculture industry provided pollination services valued at nearly $320 million, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. In addition, the bees also produced almost 150 million pounds of honey. Armed with a four-year, nearly $1 million grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the CAFNR researchers will comb the honey bee genome in an attempt to find genetic markers predictive of resiliency…