Andrew Hess

Dr. Andrew Hess is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Agriculture, Veterinary & Rangeland Sciences at the University of Nevada, Reno. His research focuses on developing bioinformatics pipelines for genomic selection and identifying genetic markers applicable to livestock and aquaculture industries. He specializes in integrating real-time long-read sequencing technologies and digital agriculture tools (e.g., accelerometers, GPS collars) for high-throughput phenotyping and genetic improvement.

Dr. Hess earned his Ph.D. from Iowa State University and has conducted groundbreaking research in sheep, goats, pigs, deer, and Greenshell mussels. His work emphasizes direct industry application, targeting traits like methane emissions, feed efficiency, and disease tolerance using advanced genomic methods such as GWAS, CNV analysis, methylation studies, and pangenome development.

His recent publications highlight cross-species genomic strategies, including rumen microbiome profiling for methane prediction and genomic selection in sheep. While no awards are explicitly mentioned, his collaborations with institutions like Iowa State University, University of Nevada, Reno, and New Zealand-based teams underscore his interdisciplinary impact in animal breeding and data-driven agricultural technologies.