Dr. Heather J. Huson, Associate Professor of Animal Genetics

• Ph.D. University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK, 2011; Molecular Genetics
• B.S. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1997; Animal Science
• A.S. Jefferson Community College, Watertown, NY, 1995; Math & Science
• Alaska Veterinary Technician License, 2002

I am originally from York, PA but have resided in upstate New York, Vermont, Alaska, West Virginia, and am now back in Ithaca, NY.  I started sprint racing Alaskan sled dogs at the age of 7 as a family sport.  After nearly 25 years, I retired racing sled dogs in Alaska and moved on to genetics research and a family.  Now I balance an active research and teaching career with a family that includes two grade school children, 8 “mutly” dogs (yes, I really said 8!), and a husband who tries to keep me sane.

Honorary lab members… Frannie, Helix, Codon, and Indel.  Frannie, serving as test dog for the treadmill and student training model, had 10 puppies born Nov. 5, 2019.  In the spirit of my research and lab, the puppies were named something related to genetics.  You’ll also see their littermate, SNP, below with Karolynn and Joe has CRISPR.

 

 

 

 

 

To read more about my sled dog racing and research, see the “Dr. Heather J. Huson” page and the “Research” page.

Laboratory Technician

Ryan Peterson

Ryan was raised in Western Minnesota on a grain farm where he learned about crops, labor and biology.  He studied Biology at the University of Minnesota at Duluth, MN where he curated the Marshall W. Alworth Planetarium for many years and worked on the Ecotoxicoly team for the US Environmental Protection Agency for the study of Amphibian malformation and decline in North America.   He received a Master’s Degree from Penn State in Pathobilogy. His main projects in the lab are the molecular characterization of dairy cattle milk microbiota and  behavioral quantification of aging Alaskan Sled Dogs.  His other lab activities include undergraduate instruction, maintaining a large DNA archive and care for captive raptors.

Animal Husbandry Technicians

Tom Lonergan

 

 

 

Lauren Rice (with Stinka)

Lauren Rice is a 2019 graduate of SUNY Oswego, majoring in International Animal Conservation.  She is continuing her studies at Cornell University, and is working towards a vet tech degree. Lauren grew up in Ithaca, spending a lot of time at Cornell, and especially enjoyed the annual open house at the College of Veterinary Medicine, which played a big role in her interest in working with animals. Her study of exotic animals has taken her to Africa and Thailand, and she has interned working with primates, elephants, wild canines and large cats. Lauren’s dream is to rehabilitate and care for animals that cannot be released back into their natural habitats. Lauren loves working with dogs, in both her private and personal life, and is excited to participate in research that will prolong and enhance the quality of their lives.

 

Jean Bonasera (with Jeeves)

Jean grew up in the Philadelphia area and moved to the Ithaca area 28 years ago. She recently joined the husbandry staff following her love of all things K9 after a 20+ year career as a bench scientist. She enjoys training and competing in agility and K9 nosework, hiking with her pack, gardening and learning how to ride horses.

 

 

CJ Legg

 

 

 

DJ Erb 

 

Post-Doctoral Research Associate

Srikanth Krisnamoorthy (Kris): November 2020 – Present

Kris grew up in Southern India. He received his B.S. and M.S. in Biochemistry from Bharathiar University, India. He then moved to South Korea and obtained his Ph.D. in Science Education (Developmental Genetics) from Chonbuk National University in 2014. His doctoral thesis was on identifying the molecular mechanisms driving leaf shape patterning in plants. During his Ph.D. he understood the profound effect next generation sequencing and computational techniques were having on Biology and decided to pursue his research career in that direction. He joined the Department of Animal Genomics and Bioinformatics at the National Institute of Animal Science, South Korea, as a Post-Doc Fellow in 2015. During his time there he used big data and next generation sequencing to understand and improve environmental resilience and productivity in livestock. In the Huson lab he works on canine genomics and dairy cattle milk microbiome. In his free time, he likes to travel and explore new places and works on improving his coding skills.

Graduate Research Associates

Mohd Azwan Jaafar: August 2019 – Present

Azwan, a Malaysian born, is majoring in Animal Science with a concentration in Genetics and Animal Epidemiology. His interest in the genetic subject matter began the same day he started to watch CSI: Las Vegas, an American television series that ran on CBS. Pursuing his interest further, he received his B.S. in Genetic and Molecular Biology and M.S. in Ecological Genetics from the University of Malaya, Malaysia, in 2009 and 2014, respectively. After graduating, he was offered a position as research officer in one of the major genotyping and bioinformatics government laboratories, Centre for Marker Discovery and Validation (CMDV). Over 6 years, he conducted livestock and aquaculture research, particularly focusing on molecular marker applications in breed enhancement programs. He was awarded the USDA Borlaug Fellowship in 2017 and fully sponsored scholarship by the Malaysia government to pursue his Ph.D. at Cornell University. When he is not busy, he likes to play games and spend time with his 2 children and wife. He really loves to travel, and one of his dreams is to be able to experience Northern Lights with his own eyes.

Joseph Thorsrud: August 2020 – Present

Joseph grew up in Southwest Michigan, before beginning his schooling at Eastern Michigan University. He transferred to Cornell University and completed his B.S. in Animal Science in May of 2020. Joseph is pursuing a Ph.D. investigating canine genomics. His work focuses on understanding how to utilize genomics to create healthier and higher performing working dogs. He has always had a passion for animals and has previously worked with primates, reptiles, and big cats. Joseph can often be found outside spending time with his own sled dog, Crispr.

Veterinary Medicine Research Associates

Karolynn Ellis (with Gruff and SNP)

Karolynn is originally from Long Island. She attended undergrad at Cornell University where she received her BS in Animal Science in 2018. She has since started veterinary school at Cornell University, where she has an interest in small animal medicine and genetic research. She expected to graduate with her DVM in 2020. Karolynn has worked for Dr. Huson for 7 years and counting! She trains the colony of sled dogs to run on the treadmill and pull a weight pull cart. She has since taken home 2 sled dogs with her, Gruff and SNP, who keep her active and in good company!

 

Samantha Sandwick

 

 

Undergraduate Research Assistants

Past Lab Members

Post-doctoral Research Associates:

• Elizabeth Ann Staiger: 2014-2015, 2017-2019; Assisted with cattle and dog projects. Managed the early development of the behavior testing for the aging sled dog study.
  

Graduate Students:

• Cassandra Stambuk: August 2014 – May 2019; Dissertation – Genotypic and Phenotypic Associations with Digital Cushion Thickness in Dairy Cattle
• Asha Miles: August 2015 – December 2019; Dissertation – Understanding the Genetics Underlying Mastitis Using a Multi-Pronged Approach
• Christian Posbergh: August 2015 – May 2020; Dissertation – Utilizing Genetics and Genomics to Improve Small Ruminant Production

Undergraduates:

• Christian Posbergh: January 2014 – August 2015; Genetics of out of season breeding in sheep; Musk ox diversity
• Mary Beth Hannon: January 2014 – May 2015; Characterization of body size in indigenous African goats and identification of relative genetic markers (Honors Thesis); assist with Alaskan sled dogs
• Alex Valenti: September 2014 – May 2017; Genetics of athletic performance in Alaskan sled dogs (Honors Thesis)
  
• Emily Plante: January 2015 –  May 2016; Assisted on sled dog projects; started Siberian Husky project
• Karolynn Ellis: January 2015 – May 2018; Genetic selection in Siberian Huskies (Honors Thesis); assist on dairy cattle mastitis and Alaskan sled dog performance
• Avril Helen: January 2015 – May 2016; Assisted with dairy cattle mastitis project
• Tyler Olson: May 2015 – May 2017; Genetics of laryngeal collapse in Alaskan sled dogs (Honors Thesis); assist on dairy cattle projects
• John Nystrom: August 2015 – May 2018; Genetics of body size in African goats (Honors Thesis); Genetic adaptation of African goats; assist on sheep projects
• Lorena Sandoval: August 2015 – May 2016; Assisted with dairy cattle mastitis project
• Hae Su Shin: January 2016 – December 2017; Assisted with DNA extraction
• Sarah Gurnon: January 2016 – May 2019; Genetics of athletic performance in Alaskan sled dogs
• Jessica Reuter: Summer 2016; Assisted with DNA extraction and raptor program
• Caleb Carmichael: August 2017 – May 2019; Scrapies in sheep breeds, genetic markers and application
• Allison Herrick: August 2017 – May 2020; Genetics of clinical mastitis (Honors Thesis) and relationship to milk microbiota profiles through 16SrRNA sequencing
• Sarah Schlee: January 2018 – May 2019; Assisted with aging sled dog project, blood chemistry analysis in aging dogs
• Eme Chan: May 2018 – May 2019; Assisted with aging sled dog project & DNA sexing of raptors
• Christina Shupe: May 2018- May 2019; Assisted with aging sled dog project & DNA sexing of raptors
• Elizabeth (Liza) Koman: June 2018 – December 2019; Assisted with the aging Alaskan sled dog project and behavior research on cognitive dysfunction
• JiAnn Greenberg: August 2018 – May 2019; Immune response of aging Alaskan sled dogs (Honors Thesis)
• Joe Thorsrud: August 2018 – May 2020; Genetics of athletic performance in Alaskan sled dogs (Honors Thesis), aging sled dog project
  
• Elizabeth (Liz) Pavlova: September 2018 – May 2020; Immune response of aging Alaskan sled dogs and underlying genetics (Honors Thesis)
• Christel-Remy Kuck: October 2018 – May 2020; Baseline blood levels of aging Alaskan sled dogs and carrier status of common canine genetic conditions
• Jessica Lecorchick: August 2018 – May 2019; Assisted with aging sled dog study
• Regina Martinez: August 2018 – May 2019; Assisted with aging sled dog study
• Kate Wagner: August 2019 – May 2020; Evaluation of the genetic improvement of the Cornell Teaching Dairy Herd
• Rashain Rushing: January 2019 – December 2019; Assisted with aging sled dog study and behavior study
• Anabel Sanchez: January 2019 – December 2019; Assisted with aging sled dog study and behavior study
• Nicole Anclade: August 2019 – May 2021; Assisted with aging sled dog project and Seeing Eye health trait study
• Helena Echenique: January 2020 – May 2020; Assisted with aging sled dog study
• Jordan-Tyler (JT) Miller: January 2020 – December 2020; Assisted with aging sled dog study