Profile
- MSc Candidate
- Supervisor: Dr. Murray Jelinski, Large Animal Clinical Sciences
- Home Community: Sundre, Alberta
Academic Credentials
- BSc Agriculture, University of Alberta
Bio Summary
Sarah grew up on her parents' commercial cattle operation south-west of Sundre, AB. Following her high school graduation, she attended the University of Alberta (Edmonton, AB), where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Agiculture with a major in Animal Science (Faculty of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences).
Upon completion of her BSc Sarah began working for Feedlot Health Management Services (Okotoks, AB) as a consultant's assistant, performing field work and necropsies on feedlot cattle, and as a technical data assistant. In September 2019, Sarah began her Master of Science in Large Animal Clinical Sciences, through the University of Saskatchewan while maintaining her full-time positions with Feedlot Health Management Services.
Research Area(s)
Both Sarah's upbringing and career interests are largely influenced by a passion for agriculture and particularly, the beef industry. Through work and education Sarah hopes to contribute to the future and sustainability of the beef industry.
Next to bovine respiratory disease, lameness diseases are the second most common treatment in feedlot cattle, making this a high priority in feedlots and the beef industry both from welfare and ecnomic standpoints. The first objective of Sarah's research is to describe, in epidemiological context, feedlot lameness diseases, including infectious bovine pododermatitis (footrot), toe-tip necrosis syndrome (TTNS), and papillomatous digital dermatitis (PDD), in western Canadian feedlots, their impact on feedlot production, and the trends/risk factors for these diseases. The second objective is to perform an analytical case-control study on PDD in western Canadian feedlots over a 5-year period, and assess, through statistical means, the risk factors associated with this disease in feedlots and feedlot cattle.