I grew up on a family row crop and swine farm in North West Indiana before my family moved to East Tennessee. There, we raised cattle and owned a small beef cow-calf farm. My interests in animal science and reproductive physiology sparked from my experiences on the family farm and during my undergraduate studies at the University of Tennessee. Animal agriculture depends on animal reproduction and problems associated with fertility greatly reduce farm productivity and income. Ultimately, this has a negative impact on U.S. and global agriculture. Pregnancy failure resulting from early embryonic mortality or loss, is a major reproductive issue in large animal livestock. Depending on species, the rate of early embryonic mortality or pregnancy failure may be as high as 60%. Late embryonic or fetal loss can occur thereafter, although at a lesser rate. A successful pregnancy requires complex developmental processes within the embryo and interactions between the embryo and the female reproductive tract. Our research program aims to develop safe technologies in cattle, sheep and swine that optimize these processes or identify and eliminate factors that disrupt them. Our current research interests include: 1) methods to improve in vitro produced embryo health and survival, 2) identifying embryonic and maternal genetic products and/or interactions that promote a successful pregnancy and 3) characterizing how disease and environment induced stress reduce fertility with the goal of developing strategies to eliminate or control their impact.