American Consortium for Small Ruminant Parasite Control

Dr. Dahlia O’Brien is an Associate Professor and Small Ruminant Specialist in Cooperative Extension at Virginia State University.  Dr. O’Brien received her PhD from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in December of 2005.  Prior to her position at Virginia State University, she served as Associate Professor and Small Ruminant Specialist at Delaware State University (DSU) for several years. In her position at DSU, Dr. O’Brien conducted research on a number of projects including the characterization of anthelmintic resistance in gastrointestinal nematodes of small ruminants in the Mid-Atlantic U.S., evaluation of natural/alternative dewormers (pumpkin seeds, ginger, garlic, papaya seeds and commercially available herbal wormers) in parasite control, determining the efficacy of  goat browsing as a biological control for invasive weeds, and the use of natural breed resistance in reducing internal parasite infections in meat goats. At Virginia State University, Dr. O’Brien plans to work collaboratively in providing needs based educational workshops and applied research for small ruminant producers locally and regionally. Her interests lies in low-input small ruminant production, natural/novel means of parasite control, and assisting producers in determining on-farm parasite resistance to chemical drugs.