Research in my laboratory focuses on interactions among nutrition, genetics and physiological state, as they affect growth, carcass composition and product quality in ruminants. Examples include the study of lambs expressing the callipyge mutation, with marked muscle hypertrophy and decreased meat tenderness; the use of exogenous metabolic modifiers to alter the partition of nutrients; and the study of physiological, cellular and metabolic adaptations to different planes of nutrition, with particular reference to the energetics of compensatory growth. This work has a strong international component, through collaborative projects in Brazil and other South American countries.
In addition, dynamic, mechanistic models of growth and metabolism are developed and used to identify critical areas of research, design appropriate experiments, and aid in interpretation of results. These studies involve a variety of species, although the primary focus is on beef cattle.
Projects
Brazil–US Consortium in Sustainable Ruminant Livestock Production Systems
Graduate student training and research is an important part of the activities in our laboratory. Click for a list of current graduate students.
Click for a list of selected publications.
Click for a list of courses taught.