Student Highlights: Janelle Grant
— MEET JANELLE —
Class: Junior
Major: Animal & Veterinary Science
Janelle is from Cheyenne, WY, and is an animal science pre-veterinary major. She began her education at Eastern Wyoming College and transferred to the University of Wyoming to pursue her bachelors degree. As a licensed veterinary technician, Janelle spends a lot of her time working with cattle. This ultimately served as the source of inspiration for her research.
— JANELLE’S RESEARCH —
Janelle’s research is focused on finding more in-depth explanations as to why cattle are more susceptible to heart disease by testing cytokines and low density lipoproteins to find a relation to the increase in pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) scores. In today’s cattle industry, mortality rate is a large concern being that it has almost doubled in the last 50 years. The agriculture industry has made advancements to increase feed efficiency to allow ranchers to be able to provide for our growing population. During that time, the increasing mortality rate in feedlot cattle has largely been attributed to Bovine High Mountain Disease, or Brisket Disease. This is a disease related to hypertension caused by changes in elevation. However, cattle born and raised at the same elevation are still experiencing a number of health problems that often lead to death. The purpose of this research is to better explain why feedlot cattle are still experiencing hypertension by relating other factors besides elevation to hopefully find economical solutions to the presenting issue.
ABOUT STUDENT HIGHLIGHTS
Every year, we award fellowships to graduate and undergraduate students attending the University of Wyoming or one of Wyoming’s community colleges in order to provide them with the opportunity to do “real” research. Occasionally, we feature one of these students and their research on this blog. For more information about our student fellowships, visit our College Programs page.