Meet Jennifer Barfield

Jennifer Barfield is an assistant professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University. Originally from North Carolina, Jennifer arrived in Colorado in 2007 armed with a Ph.D in Conservation Biology and a love of animal reproduction. Her interest in bison was sparked by a drive through Wyoming and a meeting with a bison handler from South Dakota. After learning of the plight of Yellowstone bison, she developed a breeding program with her collaborators at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the USDA to preserve the genetics of these animals using assisted reproduction. Ultimately this led to the establishment of the Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd. She is the scientific lead for this project and the efforts to bring bison back to the shortgrass prairie of northern Colorado.