Symposium » Speaker Bios
Speaker Biographies
Session 1: The Genomics Revolution
Didier Boichard, FRANCE
Didier Boichard graduated from the Agricultural University of Paris and made his PhD focus
on fertility of dairy cattle. He joined the French National Institute for Agricultural
Research (INRA) in 1982 and made his main research contributions in dairy cattle genetics
and breeding, particularly on the analysis of genetic variability of production and
functional traits. He was in charge of the French national genetic evaluation for dairy
cattle, sheep and goat. He conducted several projects for QTL detection and fine mapping,
within breed as well as in crossbreeding. In 2002, in close collaboration with the French
breeding industry, Didier implemented a large scale marker-assisted selection program, which
transformed in 2008, into a genomic selection program. From 2002 to 2009, he headed the
Animal Genetics Division of INRA. He is presently leading the Cattle Genetics and Genomics
group at INRA. He is author or co-author of 70 peer-reviewed papers and is Editor-in-chief
of the journal Genetics Selection Evolution.
Dr. Ben Hayes, AUSTRALIA
Dr. Ben Hayes has a wide ranging career designing genetic improvement programs for beef
cattle, sheep and Atlantic salmon. However, his focus for the past five years has been
the development of genomic selection methods, particularly for dairy cattle. Recent work
has addressed the challenges of optimal breeding program design with genomic selection,
incorporating whole genome sequence information into genomic selection in the 1000 bull
genomes project, as well as improving feed conversion of dairy cattle. Dr. Hayes currently
leads the dairy cattle genetics program in the Dairy Futures Cooperative Research Centre.
Dr. Flavio Schenkel, CANADA
Dr. Schenkel holds a number of degrees including a Ph.D. in Animal Breeding from the
Department of Animal and Poultry Science, University of Guelph. He also holds a B.Sc.
and M.Sc. from Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. In his academic
activities, Dr. Schenkel has published 51 refereed papers, 57 short papers in
conferences, and more than 98 scientific abstracts and technical articles. His main
academic interests are in the genetic improvement of livestock including estimation
of genetic and environmental parameters required for genetic evaluations; genetic
evaluation and improvement of livestock through statistical modeling; detection of
quantitative trait loci; combining molecular and quantitative genetic information
into genetic evaluations; genomically enhanced genetic evaluations and selection;
and conservation of genetic variability and diversity.
Session 2: Impact of Genomics on the Industry
Josef Pott, GERMANY
Josef was born and raised on a dairy farm in the northwestern part of Germany. The
family-owned farm has more than 50 year’s tradition of breeding Holstein cows and showing
them as well. Josef studied Agricultural Science at the University Kiel, Germany and
graduated in Animal Production. During that time, he took a break of almost two years,
to upgrade his practical experience where he worked on two dairy farms in Germany and at
Carnation Research Farm in Washington, USA. After graduation at University, he wrote a
doctoral thesis with Professor Ernst Kalm, regarding the optimum replacement policy in
dairy herds. He followed this with a two-year period of internships in different
departments of Lower Saxony’s (Federal State) agricultural ministry. Since 1991, Josef
has been the CEO of a regional herdbook organization called Weser-Ems-Union (WEU), which
is responsible for the registration, classification and merchandising of cattle. WEU also
runs an AI-unit as well. At the stud, they house some of the most popular German bulls
like Cassano and Stylist. As of 2007, genomic selection become a large part of Josef’s
job as CEO. Because of this, he has become the Chairman of the Committee of Genome
Analysis in Cattle within the German Alliance of Biotechnology Research (FBF).
Marjorie Faust, USA
(Speaker biography still to come)
Dr. Sander de Roos, NETHERLANDS
Dr. Sander de Roos grew up on his parents’ farm in Lopik, Netherlands. After
graduating from high school, he studied Animal Science at Wageningen University in
the Netherlands before receiving his M.Sc. degree in 1998 with a specilisation in
Animal Breeding and Genetics. From 1998 until 2009, Dr. Sander de Roos has worked
as a researcher for dairy cattle improvement organisation CRV and its predecessors.
His main areas of research have been statistical analysis of data from in vitro
produced embryos, the development of the random regression test-day model for genetic
evaluation, detection of sub-clinical ketosis through infrared spectrometry, and
genomic selection. He combined his contribution to the research and development of
genomic selection at CRV with a Ph.D. study at Wageningen University. After one
year as team co-ordinator, Sander became Head Breeding and Support at CRV in 2010.
Session 3: Improving Reproduction Using New Technologies
Dr. Ken Nordlund, USA
Ken Nordlund is a Clinical Professor in the Food Animal Production Medicine group
in the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He
received his veterinary degree from the University of Minnesota in 1977 and was a
private practitioner and practice owner in Fergus Falls, Minnesota from 1977 to
1989. He is a board-certified Dairy Specialist in the American Board of
Veterinary Practitioners. In 1989, he joined the University of Wisconsin and
helped to found the Food Animal Production Medicine program. His research
interests include dairy record systems including development of the Transition
Cow IndexTM and interactions between dairy cattle housing and health.
Sven König, GERMANY
(Speaker biography still to come)
Claire Ponsart, FRANCE
Claire Ponsart's area of research concerns animal breeding and artificial v
insemination. After being qualified as a veterinarian, her PhD thesis was
dedicated to the use of flushing as a means to improve cyclicity
resumption in beef cattle. She joined France’s UNCEIA Research and
Development department in 1998 with the responsibility of leading projects
related to embryo production in cattle. In 2002, she was chosen to
implement new practical tools in French breeding companies, aiming to
improve fertility within the UNCEIA Research and Development project called
"Fertility at First". Thus, a special interest of Claire's is reproduction
management, specifically looking at ways to achieve fertility improvement
together with genetic selection. Since 2010, Claire is the scientific
director at the National Union of French AI and Breeding Companies and
has extensive collaborations with research groups both in France and in
other countries around the world.
Session 4: Improving Our Cow’s Health & Welfare
Dr. Gerard Cramer, CANADA
Dr. Gerard Cramer graduated from the University of Guelph with his Doctor
of Veterinary Medicine in 2002. After graduation, he spent a year working
part-time at Listowel Veterinary Clinc doing mainly food animal practice.
He completed his Doctor of Veterinary Science (DVSc) degree at the
University of Guelph in 2007. For his DVSc thesis his research focused on
the prevalence and effects of lameness in Ontario dairy cattle. Prior to
opening his practice and while completing his DVSc, Gerard owned and operated
the home dairy farm in Palmerston, Ontario, Canada. While in practice, he
began to realize the opportunities that existed in providing lameness services
to the dairy industry. During his DVSc he had the opportunity to be mentored
by various hoof health experts (Drs Charles Guard and Nigel Cook) and had the
opportunity to attend the previous two international lameness conferences.
Dr. Michael T. Collins, USA
Dr. Michael Collins received his veterinary degree from the University of
Minnesota and a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Georgia. He has
taught veterinary bacteriology for the past 30 years and is presently a
Professor in the department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary
Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Since the early 1980s, Dr. Collins
has focused his research on Johne's disease and has numerous scientific and
lay publications on this disease. He has served as President of the
International Association for Paratuberculosis for over 10 years and has received
teaching awards at the School and University levels. Dr. Collins is also the
principle author of the Johne’s information Center website located at
http://johnes.org.
Gert Pedersen Aamand, DENMARK
Gert Pedersen of Denmark received his Ph.D. at the Royal Veterinary and
Agricultural University of Copenhagen in 1992 after graduating in 1988 with a
M.S. from the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University of Copenhagen. Gert
is a researcher at Danish Institute of Animal Science, Foulum, Denmark, and is
also an Advisor at Danish Cattle Federation, Aarhus, Denmark. He is currently
the Head of the Department of Breeding systems at Danish Cattle Federation,
Aarhus and has been Managing Director of Nordic Cattle Genetic Evalauation
since 2004. Gert has also been a committee member on the Interbull steering
committee since 2004. His area of expertise includes breeding, planning, bull
dam selection, and genetic evaluation.
Session 5: Ensuring Farm Sustainability
Paul Boettcher, FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION (FAO)
Paul Boettcher is currently an Animal Production Officer in Animal Genetic
Resources Management at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the
United Nations in Rome, Italy. Previously, he was a Technical Officer,
specializing in Animal Breeding and Reproduction for the Animal Production
and Health Section of the Joint FAO-IAEA Division for Nuclear Applications
in Food and Agriculture in Vienna, Austria. Earlier, Boettcher worked as a
researcher in the Institute of Biology and Biotechnology for Agriculture of
the National Research Council of Italy. He has also served as a geneticist
for ANAFI, the National Association of Italian Holstein Breeders, and as an
Adjunct Professor and Senior Research Associate for the Centre for Genetic
Improvement of Livestock at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario,
Canada. Paul was also an invited speaker at the 10th WHFF Conference held in
Sydney, Australia in 2000.
Lucy Andrews-Noden, UNITED KINGDOM
Lucy Andrews-Noden comes from a farming family in the heart of Derbyshire
Peak District, United Kingdom. After five years gaining an Higher National
Diploma (HND) in Agriculture and Animal Production and a BSc Honours in
Animal Science at Harper Adams University College, Lucy took her first
appointment as an Animal Breeding and Research Analyst in 2000 at Holstein
UK —Europe’s largest Independent Breed Society. Over the past 11 years at
Holstein UK, Lucy’s job has developed to drive forward all research, genetic
and genomic breed development activities within the Association. She was the
youngest person to be promoted to an executive position in 2006. In her
current role, Lucy is jointly responsible for all Holstein UK Breed Research
and Development. She is also the executive for the ‘Centre for Dairy
Information’; the UK’s first Central National Database covering 7 UK Major
Dairy Breeds and data. Lucy was awarded the Trehane Nuffield Farming
Scholarship in 2005, which enabled her to travel the world and study her
chosen subject, ‘The Communication of Science and Genetics to Farmers –
Bridging the Gaps’. Lucy was appointed the Chairman of the British Cattle
Breeders Club in 2010/2011 where she manages and leads the Annual Winter
Conference of over 300 delegates in Telford, Shropshire during January of
this year.
Elaine Froese, CANADA
Elaine Froese is a thought leader for agriculture succession and a catalyst
for courageous conversations. Her expertise in helping dairy families get
‘unstuck’ is sought after across Canada and abroad. As a farm business
coach and mediator, she helps founders and successors create certainty for
new agreements and timelines for change. Elaine is a member of the
Canadian Association of Farm Advisors and is a certified coach from the
Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara. She holds a Conflict Resolution from
Mediation Services, mediating for the Farm Debt Mediation Service. She is
a columnist and award winning author. Elaine farms on a certified seed grain
farm in southwestern Manitoba and has hosted many international workers on
her family farm. She drives a combine and has a college aged son who is a
likely successor. Visit
www.elainefroese.com
or
www.smartfarmbc.ca/succession-planning.
Session 6: Getting More Out of Milk
Neil Petreny, CANADA
Neil Petreny is the General Manager of CanWest DHI, a dairy farmer owned
herd recording agency located in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. CanWest DHI
provides services to 4,200 dairy farmers located in three time-zones across
the western half of Canada. Working with a progressive Board of Directors,
CanWest DHI has introduced a number of new products and services to meet
the ever-changing demands of dairy farmers, with a strong focus on
recognizing the needs of the growing segment of larger herds in the Canadian
dairy industry. Originally from the province of Saskatchewan, Neil has been
involved in the dairy industry in both Western Canada and Ontario. With an
undergraduate degree in agriculture and a Masters in Business, Neil has been
actively involved in the dairy performance recording sector for nearly 30
years. He is also a past Director of ICAR - the International Committee on
Animal Recording. During seven years on the ICAR board, Neil served as
President from 2006 to 2010.
Hélène Soyeurt, BELGIUM
Hélène Soyeurt received her Masters Degree in 2005-2006 at Gembloux Agro-Bio
Tech from the University of Liège, Belgium. The results obtained from her
thesis suggested the possibility to use the mid-infrared spectrometry to
quantify the fatty acid content in milk. She holds a D.E.A. at the University
of Liege, Belgium (2007), and finished her PhD thesis in April 2008. The aim
of this PhD thesis was to study the variability of fatty acid profile in cow
milk by using mid-infrared spectrometry. She received three awards for her
research and wrote several publications. Currently, Hélène is doing
post-doctoral research for the National Fund of Scientific Research in
Belgium. The aim of her post-doctoral project, entitled ‘Milk-Phenomics,’
is the development of new approaches to study the variability of milk spectral
data in order to develop tools to improve the robustness of dairy cows and the
nutritional quality of milk.
Tove Asmussen, DENMARK
Tove graduated from the Royal Veterinarian and Agricultural University of
Copenhagen with a Master’s Degree in milk production. She worked for seven
years advising Danish dairy farmers in ruminant nutrition and general herd
management. She worked during two periods as an International Product Manager
for FOSS, being responsible for equipment analyzing somatic cells, total bacteria
and latest components analyzed with infrared equipment. They also analyzed fat
and protein, as well as new parameters such as acetone, BHB and fatty acids.
In-between, Tove worked for seven years as Business Development Manager in
Lattec, a company owned by Delaval and FOSS. This company developed and
produced the Herd Navigator— an on-farm herd management solution which is now
installed on several farms in Canada. In April of 2011, Tove resigned as an
employee at FOSS to start her own company, Raw Milk Connect, together with a
former colleague, Berte Asmussen. She is now doing consultancy work for FOSS
as well as for other customers in the crossfire between milk analyses, ruminant
physiology and dairy herd management. In addition to this, she is continuing to
build the network of Raw Milk Connect—where inter-professional laboratories and
the customers and suppliers of solutions to these laboratories, can update
themselves and each other on the latest news within milk analyses.
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