Jennifer Barfield

Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd

 Jennifer Barfield completed a bachelor’s degree in animal science from North Carolina State University in 2000. She then completed a PhD in conservation biology at the University of New Orleans, where she studied potassium channels on sperm as potential targets for a non-hormonal male contraceptive. This work was completed in partnership with the University of Muenster, Germany. Following her Ph.D., Jennifer completed a postdoc at Colorado State University and then spent 6 months at the USDA’s National Animal Germplasm Program followed by 2 months at the New Bolton Center at the University of Pennsylvania before returning to Colorado State University as a faculty member in 2011.

Jennifer is currently an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences where her research focuses on assisted reproduction primarily in bison and cattle. She is a globally recognized expert on bovine embryo evaluation and has recently co-authored updated international standards for grading cattle oocytes and embryos. In addition, she is co-founder of a master’s program in assisted reproductive technologies (ART), which began in August 2013. Her research program on ART in bison significantly contributed to the establishment of the Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd in northern Colorado, which she continues to manage.