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New Mexico State University
Office of the Vice President for Research

Animal and Range Sciences

NMSU's Research Areas
Sam Fernald, Department of Animal and Range Science, at NMSU research rally celebrating the project Acequia Traditional Irrigation Systems Linking Culture and Nature: Integrated Analysis of Community Resilience to Climate and Land Use Changes

Animal and Range Sciences Newsletter

Key research contributions include United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded research on rangeland management practices and technologies; projects conducted through the Joe Skeen Rangeland Restoration Institute; studies of biodiversity and rangeland implications for livestock management; improvements to the fertility of beef cattle; improvements to grazing approaches that benefit ecosystems; locoweed research for rangelands; and efforts in range improvement in the face of competing land use.

Major Programs

Major Projects:

Researchers

Animal Science
Range Science
  • Laurie B. Abbott, Rangeland Ecology and Restoration
  • Kelly W. Allred, Plant Taxonomy and Grasses of Southwest - Cooperative Extension
  • Derek Bailey, Large herbivore grazing behavior, both modeling and empirical approaches; GPS-based animal tracking; rangeland livestock production, rangeland and riparian area management; livestock-wildlife interactions
  • Andres Cibils, Grazing Management and Ecology
  • Alexander "Sam" Fernald, Water Quality Hydrology
  • Amy Ganguli, Disturbance Ecology and Plant Community Recovery
  • Jerry L. Holechek, Range Animal Nutrition, Range Wildlife Interactions, Grazing Management on Desert Ranges, and Physiology
  • Kirk C. McDaniel, Brush Ecology and Management
Extension Animal Sciences and Natural Resources
  • Keith W. Duncan, Brush Management and Ecology
  • Manny Encinias, Cow/Calf Nutrition and Grazing Strategies, Grazing and Nutritional Management Impact on Calves
  • Jon C. Boren, Wildlife/livestock Interactions with Rangelands and Forests
  • Samuel T. Smallidge, Agriculture/Wildlife Interactions, Animal/Plant Interactions
  • Robert Hagevoort, Dairy Industry
  • Jason Turner, Extension Horse Specialist - Extension Animal Sciences and Natural Resources, Livestock
Jornada Experimental Range
  • Debra Peters, Rangeland Ecology and Management
  • Kris Havstad, Rangeland Ecology and Management
  • Brandon Bestelmeyer, Animal Ecology, Landscape Ecology, Plant-soil Interactions
  • Jeffrey Gillan, High-resolution 3D modeling of rangeland ecosystems, Web-based platforms for scientific knowledge exchange with an emphasis in geographically explicit information
  • Haitao Huang, Computer Specialist
  • Jin Yao, Plant population and community ecology, with emphasis on patterns and processes driven by landscape/spatial factors
  • Nicholas Webb, Rangeland management, Land degradation processes and climate-management interactions, Spatiotemporal patterns and drivers of wind and water erosion, Climate change impacts and adaptation in socio-ecological systems
  • Jebediah "Jeb" Williamson, Geographic Information Systems
Agricultural Science Center at Farmington
  • Sam Allen, Weed control, insect control, revegetation of disturbed lands
  • Richard Arnold, Weed control, revegetation, erosion control, grassland establishment
  • Kevin Lombard, Horticulture and public health, wine and grape adaptability
  • Michael "Mick" O'Neill, Agroforestry, agronomy, crop physiology, crop introduction, microirrigation
  • Daniel Smeal, Crop water use, water use yield, water conservation
Extension Plant Sciences

Major Units