Penny Riggs

Penny Riggs, Ph.D., associate professor in the Texas A&M Department of Animal Science, has been appointed as Senior Advisor of Strategy and Engagement. Riggs served as Associate Vice President for Research at Texas A&M University (2019-2022) and as Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget in the Office of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior (2018-2019). Her research focuses on analysis of gene, RNA, and protein expression, function, and signaling relevant to the inheritance of production traits and disease susceptibility in beef cattle and other food animals. Current research emphasis focuses on genomic characterization of bovine skeletal muscle traits, especially meat quality.