Meet the Members of the White Lab
Heather White, Ph.D.
After an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Indiana University School of Medicine, Heather joined the faculty in the Department of Animal Science at University of Connecticut. She joined the Department of Dairy Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in April, 2013 and since then has taught a variety of classes including the graduate level Ruminant Nutritional Physiology I and II, as well as undergraduate level Comparative Animal Nutrition.
Heather enjoys gardening, knitting, and spending time with her family!
Staff:
Sophia Kendall, M.S.
Research Program Manager
sophia.kendall@wisc.edu
Sophia is from Pittsburgh, PA and received her B.S. in Cell & Molecular Biology from USF in Tampa, FL and her M.S. in Dairy Science from UW-Madison. Sophia’s role in Dr. Heather White’s lab is all-encompassing. Sophia ensures the lab is operating smoothly by composing SOPs, training students/post-doctoral fellows on lab techniques, overseeing project completion, tracking funds, conducting studies, and more. Additionally, she manages a large, collaborative project in the Department associated with measuring feed efficiency and methane emissions in dairy cows, which comprises of Dr. Heather White’s, Dr. Francisco Peñagaricano’s, and Dr. Kent Weigel’s labs. Studies for this effort occur at the Arlington and Marshfield research stations.
Graduate Students:
Taliah Danzinger
M.S. Student
Co-adivsed by Dr. Heather White and Dr. Joao Dorea
taliah.danzinger@wisc.edu
Taliah received her B.S. in animal science from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in 2012 and her M.Ed. in adult education and training at Colorado State University in 2023. Her master’s program at UW-Madison is focused on creating management tools from individual cow DHI milk lab data. Taliah is a part-time M.S. student working full-time as the manager of education for VAS/AgSource.
Barbara Dittrich
M.S. Student
bdittrich@wisc.edu
Co-advised by Dr. Heather White and Dr. Lizzy French
Barbara is from Alma, WI where she grew up on a registered Holstein dairy farm. She received her B.S majoring in Animal Science from the University of Wisconsin- River Falls in May 2024.
Her master’s program focuses on feeding ensiled alternative forages to early lactating cows and measuring productivity and performance parameters, blood metabolites, and enteric and manure greenhouse gas production to determine which diet may provide an improvemment in feed efficiency and nutrient utilization. The goal of this project is to determine if alternative forages can have positive impacts in the use of nutritional side of dairy production.
Outside of work and studies, Barbara enjoys raising livestock, card games, traveling, and trying new things.
Post-Doctorates/Visiting Scholars:
Mariana Paiva Rodrigues, Ph.D.
Post-Doctoral Research Associate
paivarodrigu@wisc.edu
Mariana is originally from Minas Gerais, Brazil. She received her bachelor’s degree in veterinary medicine (2016) and her master’s degree in Animal Science (2019) from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). She completed with a 10 month period in the Ferraretto Lab at the University of Wisconsin – Madison before earning her PhD in Animal Science (2023) from UFMG.
During her post-doctoral training, Mariana intends to use cell culture models to elucidate nutritional questions related to dairy cattle nutritional physiology and understand the molecular mechanisms behind what drives feed efficiency in dairy cows. Some methods Mariana will use to determine nutrient efficiency will be qPCR and Western Blots.
In her free time, Mariana enjoys arts and crafts and doing puzzles.
Gabriel Ferreira De Lima Cruz, Ph.D.
Post-Doctoral Research Associate
ferreiradeli@wisc.edu
Gabriel is originally from Paraíba, Brazil. He received his bachelor’s degree in Animal Science (2014-2018) and his master’s degree in Animal Science (2019-2021) from the Federal University of Paraíba. He received his PhD in Animal Science (2021-2024) from the Federal University of Viçosa and completed a one-year internship in Dr. Ferraretto’s Lab at the University of Wisconsin–Madison during his PhD. During this period, he focused most of his research on animal nutrition and the evaluation of the fermentative and microbiological quality of silages for ruminants.
During his postdoctoral training, Gabriel intends to analyze the effects of individual or combined feed additives fed to lactating cows and potentially to transition cows. The goal of this research is to better understand how these additives influence postpartum milk production, metabolism, and biomarkers in dairy cows.
Current Undergraduate Students
Current undergraduate students in the lab include Amelia Anderson and Liam Leuwerke. 
Prior undergraduates Sophia Green, Kylie Konyn, and Luke McCoullough with some White Lab members, alumni, and Bucky!
Future goals for these students are to attend veterinary school, graduate school, or a combination of the two! Each student is either working on a grad-student led project or has their own independent project.
White Lab Alumni
MS Graduates
- Frankie Tiberio
- Tawny Chandler
- Claira Seely
- Sophia Kendall
- Erin Kammann
- Grace Praisler
PhD Graduates
- Tawny Chandler
- Kristina Weld
- Rafael Caputo Oliveira
- Ryan Pralle
- Henry Holdorf
- Faith Reyes
- Malia Caputo
Post Docs/Visiting Scholars
- Valentina Caprarulo
- Qian Zhang
- William Brown
- Katie Kennedy
- Usman Arshad
- Rika Fukumori
- Tanya France
Recent alumni and what they are doing now
Grace Praisler, MS Grace is originally from Medina, OH where she received her BS in Animal Biosciences, with a minor in Meat Science. After graduation, Grace came to UW-Madison to start her MS project. Grace’s MS project was focused on understanding the impact fatty liver and ketosis, and the two developing concurrently, have on production in transition dairy cows. Grace’s next step in her career is to move back to Ohio and become a Dairy Specialist/Consultant for VitaPlus in the Mideast territory.
Tanya France, PhD Tanya received her PhD from Cornell University in 2023 and focused her post-doctoral research work on differences in gene expression in transition dairy cows. Tanya’s next step in her career is to be a post-doctoral researcher in Dr. Laura Hernandez’s lactation physiology laboratory.
Sara Johnson Sara received her B.S. in Animal Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was a Research Specialist after graduation in the White Lab. During her time in the lab, Sara assisted in feed efficiency and methane emission study preparation and sampling at the Arlington and Marshfield research stations. Sara’s next steps are to fully immerse herself in the world of show sheep on her family’s farm – encompassing everything from the lambing process to the final touches prior to competition.
Rika Fukumori, PhD Dr. Fukumori is from Japan and received her PhD degree from Hiroshima University in 2013. She is employed by Rakuno Gakuen University as an Associate Professor and was in the White lab from October 2023 to September 2024 for her sabbatical leave. Dr. Fukumori investigated the secretion and role of metabolic hormones and gut peptides in dairy cows as they control feed intake and nutrient partitioning to body tissues. She believes that endocrine knowledge can contribute to the understanding and control of perinatal diseases in transition dairy cows and improve feed efficiency. Dr. Fukumori will continue her research program in Japan and will teach classes in the upcoming semester.
