ii GENETIC MARKERS FOR INCREASED MILK PRODUCTION IN SHEEP

First, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to my major advisor, Dr. Raluca Mateescu for allowing me the opportunity to purse my master’s degree under her guidance at Oklahoma State University. I appreciate her willingness to sit down with me and make sure the light bulb has gone off. Her guidance and assistance has been instrumental in getting me through my masters. Secondly, I would like to thank the rest of my committee members, Dr. Udaya DeSilva and Dr. Jack Dillwith, for all of their help and guidance. Next, I would like to thank the members of the lab for all of their help and support. Thanks to Karista for her willingness to help and for making me smile everyday. A special thank you to Justin for all of his help and work in genotyping all the prolactin samples. Also, I would like to thank all of the other graduate students for their help and friendship over the past two years. And thanks to all of the other members of the Animal Science department for their assistance and support. Finally, I would like to express my sincere appreciation for all of the support and love from my family and friends. Without them, there is no way I would have made it t