Dr. Foley is an Instructor/Coordinator of Animal Science in the School of Agriculture at Middle Tennessee State University. She grew up in the Hudson Valley region of New York and is a proud alumna of the Cornell Cooperative Extension 4-H program. As a 4-H youth she bred, raised, and showed rabbits and chickens, and completed many projects involving horses. Dr. Foley attended SUNY Cobleskill and Cornell University for undergraduate study and became very interested in dairy cattle and reproductive physiology. Upon completion of her bachelor’s degree, she attended Virginia Tech and conducted research involving the development of an immunocontraceptive vaccine in dairy cattle. After completing her master’s degree, Dr. Foley gained experience in both the animal nutrition and genetics/reproduction industries in the northeast and southeast regions of the USA. She then returned to academia to pursue a PhD at Penn State, where she conducted research involving veterinarian perspectives of antibiotic resistance and assisted with the teaching of courses in the Animal Science department.

Dr. Foley joined the School of Agriculture at MTSU in 2023 and currently teaches Introduction to Animal Science, Dairy Production, and Livestock Management. Additionally, she has developed keen interests in ruminant nutrition, lactation physiology, and rabbit production and hopes to teach courses relating to these areas in the future. In addition to teaching, Dr. Foley will advise the Dairy Science Club and looks forward to coaching the Dairy Challenge team. She also plans to advise undergraduate researchers and Teaching Assistants (TA’s) in an effort to enrich the educational experiences of animal science students. Dr. Foley places great value on experiential learning and believes that hands-on laboratory activities and student research are vital components to formal instruction.

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