Dr. Kara Stewart received her bachelor’s degree from Purdue in 2001 and her Master’s and Ph.D. from NC State with Dr. Billy Flowers in 2004 and 2008, respectively. Kara taught in the Animal Science department at NC State for 2 years before returning to Indiana to work for Cook Inc., a human medical device company. In July of 2013, Kara happily accepted a faculty position in reproductive physiology in the Animal Science department at Purdue. She carries a majority extension appointment working across several species, predominantly swine, and teaches a reproductive management and a reproductive physiology course for undergraduates. Her recent research has focused on colostrum management and mitigation strategies for heat stress in boars and sows. Additionally, she is investigating biomarkers of fertility in seminal plasma from boars and vaginal samples from weaned gilts