UI prof takes leave in midst of bighorn probe

A University of Idaho professor is taking a leave from research duties while the school completes an investigation into her bighorn sheep disease testimony at the 2009 Idaho Legislature and in federal court. The Moscow-based school said Wednesday that Marie Bulgin will step aside from administrative duties at the UI's Caine Veterinary Teaching and Research Center in Caldwell, and will not be involved in research projects on sheep and sheep-related diseases until the UI's investigation is completed. The move takes effect immediately. The university began investigating Bulgin, a past president of the Idaho Wool Growers Association, after The Associated Press reported earlier this month that the Caine center had evidence since 1994 that bighorns can catch diseases from domestic sheep on the open range. Bulgin was testifying in court and in front of the Legislature that no such evidence existed. Bulgin has said she didn't know about her center's studies, saying they were conducted by others. Her daughter, Jeanne Bulgin, a Caine lab technician at the time, helped with DNA analysis used in the studies...AP