Program Overview
The Animal and Natural Resource Sciences Ph.D. is a unique program that reaches across disciplines to solve problems associated with maximizing energy and food production while conserving natural resources in the face of increased environmental stressors. No other program in the southwestern United States explicitly focuses on preparing students to balance these competing factors.
This program integrates the animal sciences, natural resource sciences, and social sciences to breach disciplinary walls and leverage multidisciplinary synergies to address novel, twenty-first-century challenges. Graduates of the program will be equipped to increase America’s food production capacity, conserve natural resources, enhance ecosystem services, and resolve resource conflicts. They will be prepared to conduct cutting-edge, multidisciplinary research; disseminate knowledge to students, managers, and policymakers; and pursue careers as practitioners for private industry, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations.
Ph.D. Faculty Profiles
Dr. Zully E. Contreras–Correa
Dr. Zully E. Contreras–Correa
Dr. Contreras-Correa will include Genetics, Physiology of Reproduction, and Anatomy and Physiology of Farm Animals.
Born and raised in Puerto Rico. she earned her B.S. in biology and M.S. in animal science at the University of Puerto Rico- Mayagüez. Completing her Ph.D. in Developmental programming of beef cattle and her Postdoctoral work in lactation physiology of heat-resistant dairy cattle at Mississippi State University.
Dr. Contreras–Correa’s CV
Dr. Jessica Leatherwood
Dr. Jessica Leatherwood
A faculty member in the Department of Animal Science at Tarleton State University, Dr. Leatherwood serves as an Associate Professor and Graduate Coordinator. She received her degrees (B.S., M.S., Ph.D.) from Texas A&M University in Animal Science, with her graduate program centering on equine nutrition and physiology.
In addition to the classroom, while a faculty member at Texas A&M, Dr. Leatherwood co-developed an international horsemanship program as she believes in providing opportunities for high-impact learning experiences. She has obtained funding for students to participate in international experiences by conducting four-day horsemanship clinics in Europe, Oceania, and South America. She hopes to develop a similar program for students at Tarleton State University. Her efforts in teaching have been awarded, most recently as the recipient of the 2022 Dean’s Achievement award for Career Teaching, in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University.
Dr. Leatherwood’s CV
Email: JLEATHERWOOD@tarleton.edu
Dr. Heather Mathewson
Dr. Heather Mathewson
Dr. Mathewson has a diverse research program that primarily focuses on how wildlife populations respond to anthropogenic changes in the environment. Her current research includes riparian and grassland restoration, phenotypic plasticity in house sparrows, microplastics in songbirds, efficacy of wildlife-friendly materials for erosion control, effectiveness of environmental DNA for monitoring populations, and human-wildlife coexistence in Botswana. Additional research is associated with management and conservation of bison, quail and doves, songbirds, and pollinator systems.
A faculty member in the Wildlife and Natural Resources department, Dr. Mathewson serves as Associate Professor and Graduate Coordinator. She received her B.S. and M.S. from Texas A&M University in Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences and her Ph.D. from University of Nevada, Reno in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology.
Email: mathewson@tarleton.edu
Dr. Adam Mitchell
Dr. Adam Mitchell’s research program explores the impacts of anthropogenic disturbances on community dynamics and ecosystem services, primarily using invertebrates and plants as model taxa for study in both urban and naturalized systems. Currently, research in the Mitchell lab explores the following: Pollinator Health—exploring pollinator-habitat relationships and response to drought, changes in land use, novel host use, toxicity of pesticide amendments, and methods in regenerative agriculture and rangelands.
Biodiversity monitoring—Evaluation of plant diversity on roadsides for beneficial insects, monitoring for species of conservation need using environmental DNA, efficacy of restoration treatments on bird, arthropod, and plant biodiversity following plant invasion, monitoring nocturnal insect community response to artificial light under an urban-rural gradient.
Aquatic ecology—Quantifying impacts of microplastic pollution on invertebrate food webs in estuarine systems, changes in freshwater use on macroinvertebrate assemblages
Additional research involves collaborative efforts in landscape heterogeneity, community assembly, and roadside entanglement on wildlife.
Dr. Mitchell received his BS in Agriculture and Natural Resources, Entomology, Plant Protection, and Wildlife Conservation at the University of Delaware, his MS in Fish & Wildlife Management at Montana State University, and PhD in Entomology and Wildlife Ecology from the University of Delaware.
Email: ABMITCHELL@tarleton.edu
Dr. T. Wayne Schwertner
Dr. T. Wayne Schwertner
Dr. Schwertner’s research program focuses on applied ecological questions that address practical challenges to the conservation of wildlife and habitats, primarily in rangeland systems of North America and Africa. His current research emphasis is the ecology of wildlife in the pastoral landscape of the western Kalahari Desert of Botswana, at both the population and community level. Ongoing research projects include wildlife-livestock interactions, spatial ecology of African lions, ecology of large- and midsized-mammalian-predator communities around small villages and farms, use of aardvark burrows by commensal species, and the influence of disturbance-driven heterogeneity on biodiversity.
Dr. Schwertner is a professor in the Department of Wildlife and Natural Resources Sciences. He received his BS in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from Texas A&M, his MS in Biology from Texas State University working on small mammal community ecology, and his PhD in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from Texas A&M studying population ecology of wild turkeys. In addition to his current research, he has also worked extensively on avian ecology and wildlife-habitat interactions, including such species as wild turkey, northern bobwhites, and doves. In 2109, Dr. Schwertner received the Tarleton State University Faculty Excellence in Research Award.
Email: schwertner@tarleton.edu