A native of Brazil, Dr. Maria Lenira Leite-Browning is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and an Animal Reproduction Specialist. She is currently the Animal Extension Scientist at Alabama A&M University. She has been involved  in goat research and extension since 1980 when she was a research scientist and field veterinarian in  northern Brazil.

     Active in the goat industry in Tennessee and the U.S., she initiated Goat Extension service in Tennessee and was instrumental in the formation of the Tennessee Goat Producers Association, of which she served as vice president before being elected president in 2005.

     She is a Goat Management Consultant with extensive experience in goat production. She conducts seminars, workshops and conferences through out the U.S. with the objective of educating producers, extension county agents, industry representatives and veterinarians on several issues of goat farming including nutrition, genetics, husbandry, health, reproductive management and marketing. 

     An author of  several scientific articles published in  peer review journals, her work has been presented at national and international scientific conferences.

     She and her husband, Dr. Richard Browning live in Nashville, TN, where Richard is a prominent goat research scientist, having initiated goat research at Tennessee State University.