wiedm025@umn.edu

M.S. in Wildlife, Aquatic and Wildlands Science and Management

Rachael grew up in Western South Dakota and received her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Black Hills State University. She spent a couple of years traveling across the US working on various big game projects with multiple universities. She found a passion for wildlife disease and epidemiology which brought her to TTU. Rachael completed her Master’s degree with Dr. Warren Conway and Dr. Caleb Phillips in December 2021. Her research was focused on microbial compositions of desert bighorn sheep and aoudad with the goal of better understanding microbiome variation among the two animal species. This information was used to help asses the overall health and susceptibility of the animals in association to pneumonia causing bacteria. After graduation, Rachael took a position as a Research Associate at the University of Minnesota. Here she facilitates research projects in bioinformatics and epidemiology of avian pathogens but still continues collaborations with TTU on desert bighorn sheep disease risks.