Animal Care Services

Animal Care Services

The team from Animal Care Services consisting of:

• Tiffanie Brooks, Veterinarian
• Sydnee Woodman, Facilities Manager
• Veronica Vasquez, Animal Health Technician
• Brittany Backus, Senior Research Associate
• Michael Chandler, Lab Animal Technician II
• Karin Fritz, Coordinator
• Mark Goza, Lab Animal Technician
• Paul Stonum, Clinical Veterinarian

The Animal Care Services team works tirelessly, come rain, snow storm, sunshine, or Christmas break to feed the animals at Texas Tech, maintain their health status, and treat them if they fall sick. They have been crucial to the growth of Texas Tech to the 'Tier-1 Research University' status. They are charged with not only overseeing care of the ani¬mals, but also with helping faculty understand and comply with the myriad rules and regulations imposed by multiple agencies. It is an immense job and the team performs with the upmost skill and good humor. The job is complicated because of multiple faculty members, each with his/her own particular research needs and skill levels. The ACS team seems to always find a way to serve these many individual research needs with an eye toward ensuring the university as a whole is compliant and successful. There are more than 1,300 rodents, 2,500 fish and amphibians, 25 snakes, 500 quail, 45 deer, 200 cattle, 600 pigs, 40 horses, and 150 sheep and goats at any given time. The animals are spread all over the Texas Tech campus, TIEHH, NRM Rangelands, Equestrian Center, and the New Deal Animals facility. It is a huge operation run by a mere 8 people. Over the past ten years, with ACS's help, researchers at Texas Tech have been able to bring in significant federal awards and animal usage has increased tremendously. They are the epitome of a dedicated, caring and compassionate team.