Grace Larsen
Ph.D.
Grace is originally from Crystal Lake, Illinois, and started in the lab in 2022 after completing her B.S. in Animal Science at Colorado State University. Grace’s area of interest within Dr. Laporta’s lab is centered around calf growth during the preweaning period and the impacts of heat stress and nutrition on mammary and whole-body development. In her future, Grace hopes to work to continue to improve calf care. In her free time, Grace likes to hang out with her pet bunny Asparagus (Gus for short) and work on learning new crafts.
Victor A. de Oliveira
M.S.
Victor, originally from Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil, earned his B.S. in Animal Sciences from the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), where he focused on dairy sciences and worked at UFLA’s Research Dairy Center (Palmital Farm). He began his M.S. in Dairy Science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in Fall 2025. Victor’s primary interests include dairy nutrition—particularly amino acid balancing—and the resilience of lactating cows under stress, such as during the transition period and heat stress. Outside the lab and farm, he enjoys reading and staying active through basketball and tennis.
Maverick Guenther
Ph.D.
Maverick is from Fall River, Wisconsin, and attended the University of Findlay to obtain a B.S. in Animal Science and Equestrian Studies (2021). He then attended North Dakota State University and obtained an M.S. in Animal Science (2023). He began his Ph.D. program in Animal Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Fall 2023. When not in the lab, Maverick enjoys riding horses, being outdoors with his dog, and trying new restaurants.
Brittney Davidson
Ph.D.
Brittney is from Melbourne, Florida and attended the University of Florida to obtain both her B.S. in Animal Science: Food Animal Production (2018) and M.S. degree in Animal Science (2020). She began her Ph.D. in Dairy Science in 2021. Brittney is leading our lab research efforts in fetal programming. She is currently studying the long-term effects of intrauterine hyperthermia on offspring growth, physiology, productive and reproductive performance. She is particularly interested in thermoregulation, gastrointestinal physiology, and ovarian physiology. Her latest project focused on methyl-donor supplementation via the diet during the transition period on cow-calf health and performance. In her free time, Brittney likes reading and spending time with her cats, Monte and Monona.