PhD Student, Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine Biomedical Sciences PhD Program

North American Bison Conservation Genetics/Genomics

The North American bison population crash of the late 1800s and the increasable recovery of this species over the last 100 years is truly a remarkable story in wildlife conservation. My dissertation research involves the development of new genetic and genomic tools to help understand, manage and ensure their continued success for the next 100 years.  

I am developing a new parentage test for North American bison utilizing genomic based technology called Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs). This technology provides very powerful and in-depth genetic tools for bison parentage, ancestry, genetic diversity and to identify problems with inbreeding in closed populations. Using SNP based technology, we can look at hundreds or thousands of markers across the genome compared to previously used microsatellites which evaluated less than 50 genetic markers. 

Using this genomic technology, we are working with the National Parks Service and private herd owners to get a broad view on population specific breeding structure and sire success among herds with various effective population sizes, management strategies, age structures and herd history. With a more in-depth look into these aspects of bison population genetics this knowledge can be used to help determine the best long-term management practices for the conservation of this important North American species. In addition, information from these genomic based approaches allows for a more comprehensive evaluation of overall genetic health of this species. These studies are being conducted with bison from Yellowstone NP, Teddy Roosevelt NP, Wind Cave NP, Badlands NP and large US based private bison herds.