Biology alumnus Brett Ford ’14 recently visited St. Lawrence University to present a public seminar and speak with students in Dr. Erika Barthelmess’ Biostatistics class.
Brett is a scientist at Embark Veterinary, a canine genomics and biotechnology company. In his seminar titled “Decoding dogs: using genetic testing to learn more about man’s best friend,” Brett described how he uses a genomic database of over 2 million dogs to learn more about dog relationships and dog ancestry. Direct-to-consumer genetic testing has risen in popularity for both humans and nonhuman animals. Collecting genome-level information for millions of customers across the globe creates an invaluable data asset that can power new discoveries in genetic ancestry, health, and longevity.
In his visit to Dr. Barthelmess’ Biostatistics class, Brett talked with students about his career path and how he became a professional in bioinformatics. He charted his course from St. Lawrence to his current position at Embark and shared lessons learned along the way. This led to a great conversation between Brett and the students on topics like “work – life balance”, “academia vs. industry” and the importance of learning to teach yourself.
Brett Ford was a Biology major and math minor while an undergraduate student at St. Lawrence University. He then went on to complete a Master’s degree at the University of British Columbia where he studied conservation genetics in an endangered population of badgers. He is currently on the science team at Embark Veterinary. The Biology department is grateful to Brett and all of our wonderful alumni for coming back to visit and inspiring the next generation of scientific thinkers.
