Haley Beer

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Postdoctoral Research Associate & Adjunct Professor at University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Strategically enriching the environment of zoo felids to encourage innate behaviors is essential to good welfare. To investigate how engagement differs among sensory-based enrichment, six items representing tactile (firehose log, Jolly Eggs), visual (mirror, movie), and olfactory (cinnamon, cologne) sensory categories were offered to three adult ch...

Intrauterine growth-restricted (IUGR) fetuses exhibit systemic inflammation that contributes to programmed deficits in myoblast function and muscle growth. Thus, we sought to determine if targeting fetal inflammation improves muscle growth outcomes. Heat stress-induced IUGR fetal lambs were infused with eicosapentaenoic acid (IUGR+EPA; n = 9) or sa...

Stress-induced fetal programming diminishes β2 adrenergic tone, which coincides with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and lifelong metabolic dysfunction. We determined if stimulating β2 adrenergic activity in IUGR-born lambs would improve metabolic outcomes. IUGR lambs that received daily injections of saline or the β2 agonist clenbuterol fro...

Chronic maternofetal inflammation in late gestation (i.e., peak fetal growth) causes fetal intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) in sheep, which was associated with deficits in growth, body composition, and metabolic function before and after birth. However, the impact of sustained maternofetal inflammation during mid-gestation (i.e., peak placent...

Maternofetal heat stress during placental development induces fetal intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), which in turn reduces birthweight. IUGR-born livestock exhibit deficits in insulin stimulus-secretion coupling and glucose metabolism that contribute to poor growth efficiency. Thus, our objective was to determine whether daily oral supplemen...

Heat stress is costly for livestock production due to its impact on metabolism, which negatively affects health and growth. Previous pair-fed studies demonstrated that heat stress-induced inflammation is associated with disruptions in metabolism and growth. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine whether targeting systemic inflammat...

Chronic heat stress during pregnancy causes low birthweight due to intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) of the fetus. Recent findings indicate that IUGR fetal programming includes enhanced inflammatory sensitivity that disproportionally affects skeletal muscle. Thus, our objective was to determine if 5-d intravenous fetal infusion of the anti-inf...

Low birthweight due to fetal intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) often results from maternofetal heat stress. IUGR fetuses exhibit enhanced inflammatory tone, which persists after birth and impacts body composition, skeletal muscle growth, and metabolic function. Therefore, our objective was to determine whether daily oral supplementation of Ca2...

Zoological institutions, which were once exclusively for entertainment, are now leaders of wildlife conservation. This centuries-long transition was punctuated by key milestones that reformed wild animal exploitation into a mission of protection. Modern zoos perform ex situ activities to preserve natural resources, which are enabled by the housing...

For giraffes, few standardized methods exist for quantifying chronic stress. Allostatic load index is quantified from a panel of multi-system stress biomarkers to estimate cumulative stress. Our objective was to determine whether a panel of biomarkers selected for their role in allostatic load would reflect the number of documented stress events ex...

Background: Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is associated with reduced β2 adrenergic sensitivity, which contributes to poor postnatal muscle growth. The objective of this study was to determine if stimulating β2 adrenergic activity postnatal would rescue deficits in muscle growth, body composition, and indicators of metabolic homeostasis in...

Heat-stressed livestock exhibit systemic inflammation, which likely contributes to poor growth and metabolism even when nutritional effects are controlled by pair feeding. Thus, heat stress-induced deficits in growth, metabolism, and well-being may be improved by moderating heightened inflammation. Our objective was to determine whether targeting i...

Induction of maternofetal inflammation for two wk at 0.7 gestation was previously shown to cause fetal intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) in sheep. However, the impact of sustained maternofetal inflammation during peak placental development and growth at mid-gestation has not been explored. Therefore, our objective was to determine the effects...

The objective of our first study was to continuously monitor three zoo-housed cheetahs by videography and assess the effects of different sensory-based environmental enrichment items on their daytime and nighttime enrichment engagement and grooming behaviors. Two each of tactile, visual, and olfactory enrichment items (six total) were each offered...

Stress is evident in many animal species and has been correlated to disease prevalence. During stressful events, allostasis is initiated by physiologic systems to maintain or reestablish homeostasis to protect an organism’s viability. Over time, the acclimation to frequent stress causes systematic dysregulation, leading to the phenomena of increase...