The purpose of the AVS graduate program is to provide a high-quality education and to develop, through research, the knowledge and technology necessary to continually improve productivity, efficiency and sustainability of animal agriculture. If you are interested in a professional career in the animal sciences, you will be exposed to educational and research experiences involving the many facets of animal nutrition, physiology, microbiology and genetics through a rigorous curriculum of graduate-level courses and challenging experimentation approaches. The most current ideas and concepts in animal sciences are provided to you through your daily interactions with the faculty members in both the classroom and laboratory environments. You will be required to use the most relevant experimental methods and techniques in answering questions to improve the understanding of animal biology in an effort to provide high-quality food products that enhance people’s lives.

Cost of Study

Tuition for 2007-08 is $3,157 per semester for in-state students and $6,317 per semester for nonresidents. Graduate assistants pay a flat rate of $950 per semester. Graduate fellows pay South Carolina resident fees.

Facilities

You will have access to 12 laboratories that will expose you to the full array of laboratory techniques and equipment. These laboratories are equipped with bench space, hoods, centrifuges, autoclaves, spectrophotometers, chromatography units, cell culture incubators, histology microtomes, microscopes, PCR thermocyclers and other equipment typically found in wet chemistry laboratories. In addition, you will have access to five animal farms and the Godley-Snell Small Animal Facility. There is excellent cooperation with faculty members in other departments to allow you access to technology not found in the program’s home department. The main library maintains holdings relevant to the subject areas of animal and related sciences, such as nutrition, physiology, microbiology and genetics. Faculty members use the mainframe computing system for data analysis and storage. Each faculty member has access to at least one computer in his or her office. There are additional computers maintained in laboratories and in commons rooms in the department.

Applying

You may apply on the web at www.grad.clemson.edu/Admission.php. Applications with a $70 nonrefundable fee ($80 for international students) should be received no later than five weeks prior to registration. Every required item in support of the application must be on file by that date. When submitting an application to the Graduate School, you must also provide a one-page written narrative of interests and plans for using your graduate degree. The latter is very important in the program’s evaluation of you.

Financial Aid

There are some departmental teaching assistantships available on a competitive basis. Research assistantships are available through grant support of individual faculty members in the department. You may also apply for fellowships offered through the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences. Occasionally, work is available on an hourly basis in laboratories and at the animal farms.

Student Group

Students currently enrolled in AVS have academic backgrounds in the animal sciences, biological sciences and microbiology. Generally, the students have a strong interest in working with domestic animals in order to improve the productivity of these animals as agriculturally important commodities. The program strives to have 15 to 20 students enrolled at any given time (MS and PhD students combined). Of the 14 graduate students currently enrolled, nine are full-time and 10 are women. Fourteen percent of the students in the program are international students.

Faculty Listing

John Andrae, Assistant Professor; PhD, Forages; Idaho, 2000. Research interests include: management of pastures and grazing animals to improve forage production and animal performance.

Mary Beck, Professor and Chair; PhD, Physiology; Maryland, 1980. Research interests include: environmental induced stress responses, behavior and neurophysiological changes in laying hens.

Glenn Birrenkott Jr., Professor; PhD, Physiology/Reproduction; Wisconsin–Madison, 1978. Research interests include: molecular sexing of bald eagles and other birds that are not sexually dimorphic, antioxidants and reproduction.

Ashby Bodine II, Professor; PhD, Biochemistry and Immunology; Clemson, 1978. Research interests include: assessment of biochemical factors influencing/modulating immunological responses in animals.

Brian Bolt, Lecturer; MS, Production and Management; Clemson, 2003. Research interests include: beef and swine production systems and integration of technology into management systems.

Susan Duckett, Corley Endowed Chair; PhD, Animal products; Oklahoma State, 1994. Research interests include: integration of ruminant nutrition and meat science to alter the fat composition of animal products by modifying management and nutrition of the animal.

Steven Ellis, Associate Professor; PhD, Physiology/Histology; Virginia Tech, 1998. Research interests include: mammary development in dairy cattle, histological examination of mammary stem cells and other general histological approaches.

Jillian Fain, Instructor; MS, Physiology/Reproduction; Georgia, 2005. Research interests include: embryo competency in heat stressed cattle.

John Gibbons, Assistant Professor; PhD, Physiology/Reproduction; Wisconsin–Madison, 1998. Research interests include: design and production of more effective and efficient reproductive hormones derived from non-mammalian systems.

Annel Greene, Professor; PhD, Microbiology/Food Safety/Environmental Remediation; Mississippi State, 1988. Research interests include: animal co-product microbiological, new product development and environmental issues, landfill and animal waste remediation and microbial food safety and composition.

Michelle Hall, Professor; PhD, Animal Products; Wisconsin–Madison, 1982. Research interests include: health, processing and management issues related to game birds and small flocks and development of processing facilities for small poultry and game bird producers.

Harold Hupp, Professor; PhD, Animal Breeding and Genetics; Virginia Tech, 1977. Research interests include: adult and youth livestock education programs.

Thomas Jenkins, Professor; PhD, Nutrition/Ruminants; Cornell, 1979. Research interests include: lipid digestion and metabolism in ruminants involving investigations of the transformation of dietary omega fatty acids by the anaerobic microbial population and the microbial synthesis of CLA isomers and their tissue effects.

Denzil Maurice, Professor; PhD, Nutrition/Monogastric; Georgia, 1978. Research interests include: dietary, environmental and endocrine factors affecting oxidative stress, well-being and performance and bioavailability of nutrient sources and nutraceuticals.

Laura Morgan, Instructor; MS, Management/Equine; Georgia, 2005. Research interests include: evaluation and quantization of educational schemes for equine science.

Chris Mortensen, Assistant Professor; PhD, Physiology/Equine; Texas A&M, 2007. Research interests include: reproductive physiology of horses related to artificial insemination, embryo transfer and other assisted reproduction techniques.

Larry Olson, Associate Professor; PhD, Animal Breeding and Genetics; Nebraska, 1976. Research interests include: genetic evaluation of beef cattle performance traits.

Scott Pratt, Associate Professor; PhD, Physiology/Comparative; Missouri, 1994. Research interests include: use of molecular techniques that identify genes expressed in oocytes that are required for reprogramming and/or imprinting of the donor cell line used in somatic cell nuclear transfer.

Thomas R. Scott, Professor; PhD, Physiology/Immunology; Georgia, 1983. Research interests include: study of immune cell activation through cell-surface receptor binding by specific ligands.

Peter Skewes, Professor; PhD, Physiology/Behavior; Virginia Tech, 1985. Research interests include: behavior and welfare of farm species.

Kristine Vernon, Instructor; MS, Physiology/Equine; Michigan State, 2000. Research interests include: exercise physiology as it relates to various types of exercise on cartilage.