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Cindy Wood

Associate Professor, Genetics and Animal Production
Photo of Dr. Cindy Wood at the Holzman Alumni Center. Chandeliers and windows in the background. Cropped vertically.
School of Animal Sciences
3020 Litton-Reaves Hall
175 West Campus Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24061
piglady@vt.edu
540-231-6937

My research activities center on improvement of swine management, including nutrition, genetics, reproduction, housing, economics, husbandry, and behavior.  Recent projects include use of ultrasound to predict carcass merit in 4-H/FFA project market hogs, and calculation of factors to adjust pig weights to 21 days of age.  Current interests are evaluating dietary supplements for show pigs, and studying sow and pig behavior as it relates to animal well-being.  In addition, I conduct pedagogical research, particularly related to experiential (hands-on) learning.  A current project is evaluating the use of various teaching techniques in a large, one-credit liberal education course.

Courses Taught

  • APSC 1454  Introduction to Animal and Poultry Sciences
  • APSC 1464  APSC Laboratory
  • APSC 1504  Animal and Poultry Sciences Survey
  • APSC 2004  Animal and Poultry Sciences Seminar
  • APSC 2114  Livestock Management and Handling Lab
  • APSC 3004  Junior Seminar
  • APSC 4444  Swine Production
  • ALS  1004  Agriculture, the Arts and Society
  • APSC 2964, 4974, 4994 (Independent Study/Undergraduate Research)
  • Governor’s School for Agriculture

Most of my Extension activities are youth-oriented and often involve undergraduate students in their planning and delivery.  I coordinate the annual Youth Swine Education Day, which includes Youth PQA Plus sessions and a swine stockman’s contest, and serve as the Virginia Youth PQA Plus coordinator.  I also judge youth swine shows and scan show pigs ultrasonically to estimate carcass merit.  We also merchandize bred gilts suitable for youth projects through the Hokie Harvest Sale each fall.

  1. Bassaganya-Riera, J. A., J. Guri, A. M. Noble, K. A. Reynolds, J. King, C. Wood, M. Ashby, D. Rai and R. Hontecillas. 2007. Docosahexaenoic and arachidonic acid-enriched infant formulas modulate antigen-specific T cell responses to influenza virus in neonatal piglets. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 85:824-836.
  2. Wood, C. M. 2004. Teaching Modern and Traditional Animal Breeding Concepts.  2004 Lauren Christian Swine Genetics Symposium. Dec. 9-10, 2004. Ames, IA (7 pp).
  3. Wood, C. M., W. E. Beal, E. A. Dunnington, D. E. Eversole, H. Jiang, A. P. McElroy, R. K. Splan and M. L. Wahlberg.  2008.  Capstone experiences in Animal and Poultry Sciences:  opportunity and challenge.  J. Anim. Sci. 86(E-Suppl. 2):397.
  4. Wood, C. M., W. E. Beal, E. A. Dunnington, D. E. Eversole, A. P. McElroy, and R. K. Splan.  2008.  A holistic approach to undergraduate curriculum review and revision in Animal and Poultry Sciences:  process and results.  J. Anim. Sci. 86(E-Suppl. 2):398.
  5. Wood, C. M. and D. Moore.  2008.  “Agriculture, the Arts and Society”:  Meeting the Goals of a Curriculum for Liberal Education.  NACTA 52(2):108.
  6. Wood, C. M. 2006. Collegiate LifeKnowledge: A student-centered leadership development program.  J. Anim. Sci. 84 (Suppl.1):406.
  7. Harper A., C. Wood, M. Estienne and J. Zhao.  2005. Live placing of pigs from discrete categories of a packer value index at the Virginia state fair youth market hog show. Annual Meeting of the Southern Section-American Society of Animal Science, Little Rock, AK, Feb. 6-8, 2005 (J. Anim. Sci. 83(Suppl. 2):20). 
  8. Wood, C. M. 2005. Photography as an experiential learning exercise in a university core course, “Agriculture, The Arts, and Society”.  NACTA 49:2.  51st Annual Conference of the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture. 
  9. Wood, C. M. 2003. Undergraduate research: a win:win proposition.  J. Anim. Sci. 81(Suppl. 1):25
  10. Wood, C. M., B. Osborne, S. Meder, A. Young, A. Damon, J. Joseph, M. Ashby, T. O’Hare, and L. A. Kuehn. 2003. The effect of toys on performance and behavior of weanling pigs housed in littermate or mixed groups.  J. Anim. Sci. 81(Suppl. 2):34.
  11. Wood, C. M. 2003. Use of a Partially Decentralized System for Advising Students in a Large Department  NACTA J. 47(1):53.
  12. Harper, A. F., W. A. Selby, C. M. Wood, M. J. Estienne, J. P. Fontenot, and L. A. Kuehn.  2003. Growth performance in weanling pigs fed diets with elevated copper levels from two copper sources. J. Anim. Sci. 81(Suppl. 2):5.
  • PhD, Animal Breeding and Genetics, 1986, Iowa State University
  • MS, Swine Nutrition, 1982, Mississippi State University
  • BS, Animal Science, 1979, University of Florida