Sustainable Beef Systems Research Group
Graduate Students
This webpage was last updated on March 17, 2010.
14 M.V.Sc, 68 M.Sc., 16 Ph.D. students are currently supervised by members of this group or have been supervised within the past 10 years.
Graduate Student Funding
Graduate Student Stipends and scholarships are received from: Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), Canadian Wheat Board, Unviersity of Saskatchewan, and WCVM Interprovincial Graduate Student Fellowship Program. Some scholarship funding is occasionally available for foreign students but some funding is available only to Canadian students.
Persons interested in graduate studies, should email members doing research in their area of interest.
Graduate Student Degrees
Graduate degrees are obtained from the departments where members of our group have their primary appointment and include:
Graduate Student Courses
A wide variety of graduate level courses are available that focus fully or in large part on beef cattle. Depending on the program and degree, graduate students take 3-5 graduate level courses.
Current Graduate Students
The following are examples of grad students currently conducting research in cattle.
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Rodrigo Ivan Albornoz graduate from the Faculty of Agronomy at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is currently doing a Master's degree under the supervision of Dr. Greg Penner. His research topic is the negative effect of short-term feed restrictions on rumen epithelial functions and feeding management before and after the restriction. |
| Marcos Gonzalo Zenobi is from Agrentina, Cordoba. He received his Agronomist Engineering degree from the National University of Cordoba. Following graduate , Marcos began working for INTA (National Institute of Agriculture Technology) specializing in animal nutrition (silage and grasses). He also enrolled in a post graduate program in bovine reproduction. Currently, Marcos is completing a M.Sc.degreee in ruminant nutriotn under the supervision of Dr. John McKinnon. His thesis involves the creation of a blended feed that targets the specific nutrient requirements of specific classes of cattle in order to minimize the overfeeding of nutrients, such as protein |
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Siping Zhang grew up in China and got her Bachelor's degree of Agriculture at the College of Animal Science and Technology in Northwest A & F University in China in July 2010. She is currently pursuing her Master's degree under the supervision of Dr. Greg Penner. She will be looking at the negative effects of feed restriction on rumen absorptive and barrier function and the immune activiation in beef cattle. |
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Alison Ward grew up in Saskatoon. She completed her BSA in animal science from the University of Saskatchewan in 2006. Following that she began an M.Sc. with Drs Fiona Buchanan and Hank Classen examining the nutrigenetic effects of feeding canola meal to laying hens. After completing her M.Sc. in 2008, Alison immediately began a Ph.D. with Dr. Fiona Buchanan examining the role of vitamin A in fat deposition in feedlot steers. Alison looks forward to pursuing a career in academia in the new and emerging field of nutrigenetics. |
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Ashely Krause grew up in West St. Paul, MB. She completed her BSA in Animal and Poultry Science at the University of Saskatchewan in the spring of 2009 and is currently pursuing her M.Sc. under the supervision of Dr. Bart Lardner. Her study is at the Western Beef Development Centre's Termuende Research Ranch located near Lanigan, Saskatchewan. She is looking at feeding crop residues to mature beef cows due to their potential to reduce winter feed costs. Upon completition of her Masters degree, she looks forward to a career in the livestock industry in western Canada. |
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Khalil Sahtout was born in Kuwait, after which he lived in Syria, followed by Malaysia. In Malaysia he finished his schooling as well as graduating from Monash University with a B.Sc (Honours) in Biotechnology. He then moved to Canada, and graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a B.Sc. in Animal and Poultry Science. He is currently doing a M.Agr, trying to identify weakness with the NRC (2000) model. He is hoping to become a full-time research trying to improve model accuracy. |
| Teresa Cook grew up in Prince George, BC and pursued many agricultural opportunities in the region. She graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a bachelors majoring in Animal Science in 2001. She graduated from Western College of Veterinary Medicine is 2005 and obtained a certificate from the Summer Dairy Institute at Cornell. She practiced in rural British Columbia for 2 years in mixed animal practice. She has now returned to the WCVM to pursue a masters in Epidemiology, studying antimicrobial resistance in E. coli and mannheimia in feedlot cattle. Her future interests lie at the intersection of human and animal health disease outbreaks. |
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Grant Zalinko received his BSA in Animal Science from the College of Agriculture at the University of Saskatchewan in 1986. Grant worked in the feed industry in Saskatchewan until 1995 when he joined SIAST as an instructor in their agriculture program. In August 2004 he took a leave of absence to return to the University of Saskatchewan and pursue his M.Sc. in ruminant nutrition under the supervision of Dr. John McKinnon. Grant's research project is to evaluate a low lignin hull, high energy oat in feedlot cattle diets. The new oat was developed by the Crop Development Center at the University of Saskatchewan in partnership with the Prairie Feed Resource Center and Super Oats Canada Ltd. Grant and his family reside at Rouleau, Saskatchewan. |
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Renee Petri grew up on a small mixed animal farm west of Edmonton, Alberta. She completed a B.Sc. in Agriculture at the University of Alberta in 2004. In 2004 Renee worked for the Alberta Provincial Government on a one year internship for 4-H. In May of 2005, she moved to Saskatoon to work with Dr. McKinnon on her Masters in Ruminant Nutrition, looking at the effects of graded levels of wheat based dried distillers' grains with solubles on the growth performance, carcass characteristics and rumen fermentation. In August of 2008, Renee completed her Masters and started directly into her Ph.D. programme with Drs. T. McAllister of the Lethbridge Research Station, Agriculture and Agir-Food Canada and J. McKinnon at the University of Saskatchewan. During the course of her Ph.D., Renee will be looking at the changes in rumen microbial populations of finishing steers undergoing sub-acute ruminal acidosis using wheat-based dried distillers' grains as a model. |
| Dr. Dale Douma graduated in 1999 with BSc in Agriculture from the University of Manitoba. He then completed his DVM from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan in 2003. Dale practiced in eastern Manitoba prior to returning to the U of S to work on his Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. John Campbell. His research is focused on Johne's disease in the Canadian cow-calf industry studying the distribution of the disease as well as the environmental and management factors association with it. |
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Kate Davies is from a dairy farm in the UK. She completed her BSc in Agriculture at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK in 2001, after which she travelled to New Zealand to work on a farm for 10 months. Kate came to Canada in 2002 to study for an MSc on the "Regulation of folliculogenesis in sheep" at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine with Dr. Rawlings. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate with Drs. John McKinnon and Tim Mutsvangwa in the Department of Animal and Poultry Science. Her project is focused on the effects of dietary crude protein and fermentable carbohydrate levels on urea recycling and microbial protein production in beef cattle with an aim to reduce nitrogen output. |
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Amanda Van De Kerckhove grew up in Moosomin, SK. She obtained her BSA in the spring of 2007 at the U of S, majoring in Animal Science. She began her M.Sc. project in September 2007 under the supervision of Dr. Bart Lardner. Utilizing the resources at the Western Beef Development Centre's Termuende Research Ranch, her project is evaluating the use of DDGS as a supplement for beef cows consuming low quality forages in the fall and winter. Upon completion of her degree, Amanda looks forward to a career in the livestock industry, focusing on ruminant nutrition and related extension. |
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Brooke Aitken grew up near Eyebrow, Saskatchewan on a beef and sheep farm. She graduated with her BSA in Animal Science from the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at the University of Saskathcewan in 2008. She promptly began graduate studies in Applied Ethology under Dr Joseph Stookey at the WCVM. Brooke has also spend some time working in the swine industry, but has decided to focus her research on cattle behaviour. Her Master's thesis is focusing on the possibility of predicting the maternal behaviour of beef cattle. |
| Lynne Girardin is originally from a farm near Meyronne, a small town in south-west Saskatchewan. She obtained her Agriculture degree in 2005 and worked in the livestock industry in swine, dairy and beef production. She started her Masters program in January 2007 under the supervision of Dr. Bart Lardner (WBDC) and Dr. Alan Iwaasa (AAFC-SPARC). Her project is conducted at three different sites: 1. Western Beef Development Centre at Lanigan, SK; 2. AAFC - Semiarid Prairie Agriculture Research Centre in Swift Current, SK; and 3. AAFC - Brandon Research Centre in Brandon, MB. The focus of her research is determining the production and economic efficiencies of March vs. June Calving Systems. Upon completion of her Masters degree, she hopes to continue her career in the livestock industry through extension and consulting. |  |
| Leanne Van De Weyer is a Masters student in the Department of Large Animal Clincial Sciences, WCVM, under the supervision of Dr. C. Waldner. She has a degree in Agriculture, Education and Veterinary Medicine from the University of Saskatchewan. After completing her DVM, she worked in a mixed animal practice in Weyburn, Sk for 11 years. She is a distance graduate student and resides in Weyburn with her family. In order to complete her M.Sc. course requirements, she is also enrolled in the U of London's School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Epidemiology distance program where the focus is on human epidemiology. Her Masters project is examining the association between trace mineral status and reproductive success in beef cow-calf hers on PFRA pastures in southern Saskatchewan, as well as gathering information on the prevalence of Leptospirosis and Campylobacter in these animals. |
| Amber Smith grew up on a farm in central Saskatchewan, near Craik. She received a B.Sc. in Biology in 2006. She is currently pursuing her M.Sc. in Soil Science under the co-supervision of Dr. Jeff Schoenau and Dr. Bart Lardner. Her study is at the Western Beef Development Centre's research farm located near Lanigan, Saskatchewan. Her study is looking at the potential nutrient export in run-off and leaching from an in-pasture wintering system. The study will specifically examine the amount of nitrogen, phosphorous and coliforms lost from the bale feeding system through run-off. The amount of nitrogen and phosphorous left in the soil will also be examined. Run-off from a traditional dry-lot wintering system will be collected to help compare the two management practices. This study may help with the development of management practices that will mitigate the impact of nutrients from wintering systems. |  |
Past Graduate Students
Recent graduate students are now managing the Borderline Feeders (a new SK feedlot), are senior nutritionists in the beef industry (5), involved in government extension in MB, SK, AB (5). Other graduate students are influencing beef research at other institutions such as McGill, University of California-Davis, University of Zimbabwe, Public Health Agency of Canada, Alberta Agriculture and Food, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Alberta Agriculture, Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food.
| Bob Schimpf took many of the photographs of cattle used in various genetics studies during his M.Sc. He now works in a RCMP Forensics Lab in Edmonton. |
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Carolyn Fitzsimmons found a mutation in the leptin gene during her M.Sc. which has been studied further by others in the genetics group. She completed her PhD in Sweden and a post-doctoral fellowship in Australia. As of January 2009 she is a Research Scientist with AgCanada on the University of Alberta campus. Leigh Marquess did his M.Sc. mapping polled. He has taken the leptin studies to the commercialization phase and now owns and operates Quantum Genetics, Inc. in Saskatoon. |
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Logan Williams is a ruminant nutritionist with Federated Cooperative Limited in Saskatoon. Kim Reddick is now a research technician at VIDO conducting research
on immune modulation in swine and poultry. She has published one paper
"No association between the neurotensin (NTS) gene and production
traits in beef cattle". 2007 Animal Genetics. 38:428. |
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Lee-Anne Walter was raised on a grain and cattle operation near Lampman, SK. She received her BSA in animal science from the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at the University of Saskatchewan in the spring of 2007. After taking the summer off to help with calving as well as to backpack across Europe she started her M.Sc. in ruminant nutrition under the supervision of Dr. John McKinnon. Her project aims to compare wheat DDGS (dried distillers' grains with solubles) to corn DDGS in feedlot cattle diets. Lee-Anne has received a scholarship from the Canadian Wheat Board to complete this project. Lee-Anne accepted a position with Intevet, based in Calgary in January 2010. | |
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Kim McLean grew up on a farm in Arcola, a small town in South East Saskatchewan. In 2004 she obtained a BSA from the University of Saskatchewan. After taking a six month break to work for Bayer Cropscience, Kim returned to start her M.Sc. with Dr. Sheila Schmutz in January of 2005. The main focus of Kim's research has been coat color genes and their effect on carcass and production traits in beef cattle. Kim defended in December 2009. She is currently doing a post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. Carolyn Fitzsimmons at the University of Alberta in beef molecular genetics. |
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Sushama Arya is from northern India. She did her bachelor's degree in Veterinary and Animal Science from Rajasthan Agricultural University, India, in 2006. and her M.Sc. with Dr. John McKinnon, completing in 2010 at the University of Saskatchewan. She lookied at the effects of dietary inclusion level of a Low Lignin Hull, High Oil Oat on the performance and carcass characteristics of feedlot cattle. |
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Charlotte Ward grew up on a farm near Springside in East-Central Saskatchewan. She received her BSA in Rangelands Resources from the College of Agriculture at the University of Saskatchewan in the spring of 2005. She completed her M.Sc. under the supervision of Dr. Bart Lardner. her project evaluated the performance and economic value of new forage varieties for grazing in Saskatchewan. |
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Breeanna Kelln grew up on a farm near Duval, Saskatchewan. She received her B.S.A in Animal Science from the College of Agriculture at the University of Saskatchewan in the fall of 2005. She completed her M.Sc under the supervision of Dr. Bart Lardner. Her research is evaluated Winter Feeding Systems for Beef Cattle. The project studied the effects of beef cow winter feeding systems on cow performance and reproductive efficiency, soil nutrient cycling and compaction, subsequent crop yield, as well as the economic feasibility of each system. |
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Chelsey Carruthers grew up on a farm near Biggar, Saskatchewan. She completed her BSA in Animal Science at the University of Saskatchewan in the spring of 2007 and her M.Sc. in November 2009. She evaluated genetic diversity in Angus cattle under Dr. Sheila Schmutz, using genes under direct and/or indirect selection and microsatellites. She is currently a Livestock Specialist for the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture in Watrous. |
Herbert Rovay completed his graduate program on treatment of vesicular adentitis in bulls under the supervision of Dr. Albert Barth. He is currently working in private practice in Medicine Hat, Alberta.
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