Faculty Spotlight: Andrea Cupp Thursday, September 30, 2021
About Me
I am a native of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and my Dad is the 5th generation on our family farm. He is a retired Ag teacher and we grew up showing animals and participating in FFA and 4H. In the department, I am a reproductive physiologist and I conduct research and supervise the Physiology Research herd at ENREC. Our main goal is to develop high throughput techniques (genetic, hormones) to identify females that should be removed from the herd to enhance producer profitability and sustainability. I teach an Endocrinology class to seniors and graduate students and also a grant writing class to graduate students and postdocs.The best part of my job is seeing students learn and helping them mature and develop which includes helping them figure out what they want to do. I don't always get to work in the lab, but, I truly enjoy working with students, finding out about them, their backgrounds and what brings them here to the department.
What is your position in the department?
Beef Physiologist/Reproductive Physiologist, Omtvedt Professor of Animal Science
How long have you worked in the department?
Twenty one years in August of this year.
What do you enjoying outside of work?
Spending time with my husband, Bud, and daughter Olivia. We raise boar goats and we enjoy hanging out with them and our two dogs Casper and Gus on our small farm between Eagle and Palmyra. My husband, Bud, also starting cooking during the pandemic when I was doing a "change of duty station" at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The picture here in this article is of a peanut butter pie that he made me for my birthday--yum yum. I am enjoying this "change in duties" at home.
What is something most people don't know about you?
I have been judging livestock since I was about 5. I was on the livestock judging team at Virginia Tech during my undergraduate degree. While I really enjoyed that experience, I decided not to be a livestock judging coach in graduate school and figure out what it meant to conduct research. I have never regretted that decision. I love what I do and I enjoy helping students to figure out if they enjoy research and teaching too.