Class of 2028: Working with Pigs is Hog Heaven for Pork Scholar

It may sound surprising that someone with the middle name Huntress has centered her career on the welfare of animals, but that’s exactly what Lindsey Britton has done.

Anyone talking to the Edenton, North Carolina, native and incoming College of Veterinary Medicine first-year about her aspirations can clearly hear her passion for pigs. At just 24 years old, she has already launched research into porcine respiratory bacteria, interned on hog farms nationwide and led separate vaccine trials to prevent rotavirus and influenza in piglets.

Britton has accomplished all that over the past seven years. In fact, she had zero farm background before attending a livestock science camp at NC State the summer before her senior year of high school.

“Then when I came to NC State as an undergraduate, my introduction to animal science class taught by Dr. Billy Flowers was when I was truly exposed to production animals and the swine industry,” she says. “That really kick-started an interest for me.”

Now Britton is serving a two-year appointment as a Real Pork Scholar through the National Pork Board. The executive mentorship program connects students with leaders in the pork industry — in Britton’s case, a swine veterinarian in Minnesota — to build their professional networks, support pig-oriented research projects and develop students’ research communications skills.

Ask Britton what appeals to her about the industry, which she acknowledges is often stigmatized, and she has a ready answer.

“It’s definitely the people,” she says. “I love the pigs, for sure, and getting to go boop snoots on a farm, but the farmers and other people in the industry — whether they’re nutritionists, geneticists, reproductive physiologists or transportation workers — are all so integrated with each other, and everybody relies on everyone else. They all care so much about their product and raising good pigs.”

Her dedication to supporting these personnel and improving porcine well-being inspires her to work toward becoming a systems veterinarian on a rural swine farm, ideally in North Carolina. She says her dream job would involve making calls on herd health, leading breakthroughs in vaccine research and improving efficiency and productivity within the industry while keeping hog wellness at the forefront.

Earning her DVM will be a capstone along a path that already includes a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in animal science from NC State. Her master’s focused on swine physiology with a thesis that examined a possible relationship between mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, a pneumonia-causing bacteria in pigs, and reduced reproductive performance in breeding sows.

“That experience showed me that I love research,” Britton says. “A lot of people don’t quite realize that data management and analysis is an important skill for a veterinarian, especially for swine veterinarians looking at whole health monitoring systems for lots of different animals over an extended period.”

She also has ample experience on pig farms, from working at NC State’s Lake Wheeler Road Field Lab to completing an internship at Smithfield Foods. Britton spent much of this summer with Medgene Labs, a veterinary pharmaceutical company, conducting a swine flu vaccine trial in Minnesota, South Dakota and Iowa.

At the College of Veterinary Medicine, she’s looking forward to reconnecting with colleagues and mentors, including Dr. Glen Almond, a professor of swine health and production management. She’s also excited about making new connections with people who are just as passionate about veterinary medicine as she is.

“I’m so excited to wear a white coat and use a stethoscope,” Britton says. “When I ordered all of that, I was like, ‘This is real! I actually get to wear scrubs!’ The idea of being a vet has been so coveted and so far-off for so long that it seemed like a dream. But now it’s actually real!”