Brooke Clemmons

Assistant Professor Animal Science

A Conversation with Brooke

What would you tell a student who is thinking about attending A&M-Commerce?

I have never been in, or worked in, a higher education organization in which the faculty and staff care so much about the students than at A&M-Commerce. Even though many of our courses and programs are smaller than other institutions, we push our students to grow and learn and provide as many hands-on experiences as possible – on par with any other university. We are a unique university with a wide variety of opportunities for students.

What draws you to your discipline?

I am very lucky in that I get to span multiple disciplines. I was originally drawn to Animal Science because I wanted to improve animal agriculture. As someone who does not come from an agriculture background whatsoever, I found a passion for agriculture that grew differently than many others. I love being able to apply the lab and computational techniques that I enjoy in a sector that is vastly important to the world. I also get to utilize my background to understanding the changing needs of undergraduate and graduate students in agricultural fields to improve their experiences and employment opportunities upon graduation.

What has been your favorite course to teach?

I have two favorite classes on very different ends of the spectrum – ANS 1319: Introduction to Animal Science and AG 408: Nutritional Biochemistry. I love Introduction to Animal Science because I get to interact with students from many different disciplines across campus as well as introduce students majoring in Animal Science to the variety available to them within the field. Nutritional Biochemistry is another favorite of mine because Biochemistry is a course that I thoroughly enjoyed as an undergraduate student and exposed me to new passions that assisted me in my own research. In Nutritional Biochemistry, I get to help students “open up the black box” of how nutrients are actually used within the body and lead to the importance and balance that we have to consider when feeding animals.

Educational Background

• Ed.D., Higher Education, Texas A&M University-Commerce, 2024
• Ph.D., Animal Science, University of Tennessee Knoxville, 2020
• M.S., Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications, University of Tennessee Knoxville, 2019
• M.S., Animal Science, University of Tennessee Knoxville, 2018
• B.S., Animal Science, North Carolina State University, 2013

Research Interests

• Ruminant gut microbiology
• Course and program assessment development
• Science communication for undergraduate students

Professional Organizations

• American Society of Animal Science
• National Association for Colleges and Teachers in Agriculture
• American Society of Microbiology

Selected Publications

• Clemmons, B.A., Ault-Seay, T.B., Henniger, M.T. et al. Blood parameters associated with residual feed intake in beef heifers. BMC Res Notes 16, 177 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-023-06444-6
• Clemmons, B.A.; Mulon, P.-Y.; Anderson, D.E.; Ault-Seay, T.B.; Henniger, M.T.; Schneider, L.G.; Staton, M.; Voy, B.H.; Donohoe, D.R.; Campagna, S.R.; et al. Ruminal Bacterial Communities and Metabolome Variation in Beef Heifers Divergent in Feed Efficiency. Ruminants 2022, 2, 282–297. https://doi.org/10.3390/ruminants2020019
• Clemmons, B.A.; Mulon, P.-Y.; Anderson, D.E.; Ault-Seay, T.B.; Henniger, M.T.; Schneider, L.G.; Staton, M.; Voy, B.H.; Donohoe, D.R.; Campagna, S.R.; et al. Ruminal Bacterial Communities and Metabolome Variation in Beef Heifers Divergent in Feed Efficiency. Ruminants 2022, 2, 282-296. https://doi.org/10.3390/ruminants2020019
• Clemmons, Brooke A., Madison T. Henniger, and Phillip R. Myer. “Data of bacterial community dynamics resulting from total rumen content exchange in beef cattle.” BMC Research Notes 14.1 (2021): 308.