Welcome Message from the Chair

Welcome to Animal and Veterinary Sciences (AVS), a department that has been part of Clemson and a leader in South Carolina agriculture since the late 1800’s. As part of a Land Grant university, AVS has strong commitments to educating students – our future citizens; conducting research with positive impacts from local to global; and to Extension programs that integrate research findings and bring knowledge in a usable way to the citizens of South Carolina. As an animal sciences department in an agriculturally based university, AVS focuses primarily on animals that provide food and fiber – but, in response to the increasing importance of horses as an economic entity in SC and as an interest of our students, we have recently increased emphasis on this recreational species.

Our undergraduate students are in the capable hands of faculty who place high value on individualized advising to help students find their way through college to a meaningful career. Students experience hands-on techniques classes with animals in addition to a rigorous academic program, choosing between three concentrations – Pre-veterinary and Science, Equine Business, and Animal Agribusiness. All three concentrations include a strong science base and an experiential component through internships and teaching, research, or Extension experiences.  
Our pre-vet program is the only such program accredited by the S.C. Commission on Higher Education, and our students enter veterinary school at a very high rate. Other students, from all three concentrations, enter graduate or medical school; find positions in teaching, Extension, or research labs; or have successful careers in various segments of the animal industry, ranging from production to sales to management.

Faculty members teach and conduct research at five associated animal farms (Beef, Dairy, Horse, Swine, and Poultry) located near campus. Graduate and undergraduate students are involved in research projects ranging from applied to molecular aspects of animal nutrition, physiology, and reproduction, to behavior and welfare. Key research focus areas include beneficial effects of forages on healthy components of food products from beef and lamb; increasing healthy fats in milk; and ways in which chickens and sharks contribute to our understanding of cancer cell proliferation. Several members of the Animal & Veterinary Sciences faculty participate in the interdisciplinary Animal Co-Products Research & Education Center (ACREC), which was established with support from the Fats and Proteins Research Foundation. This unique center seeks novel non-feed, non-food uses for the 59 billion pounds of inedible co-products generated annually from the North American animal, poultry, and fish industries.

Extension specialists in the department work with livestock, small ruminant, dairy, poultry, and equine producers throughout the state. They work closely with county agents and are members of the Extension Livestock and Forage Team that provides leadership statewide. All have been trained as members of the state’s Disaster Response Team under the auspices of the Livestock Poultry Health regulatory division of Clemson University located in Columbia, S.C.

It’s an honor and a privilege to serve as Chair of Clemson’s dynamic and growing AVS Department as we move forward strategically in this exciting new Century. If I can help you in any way or if you have suggestions or comments, please don’t hesitate to let me know!

Dr. Mary M. Beck, Chair                                           Related Links:
864-656-2570                                                           Undergraduate Curriculum
mbeck@clemson.edu                                               Farms, Barns, and Arenas
                                                                               Research
                                                                               Extension

Page maintained by: Laura Hedden, lhedden@clemson.edu