Emerging Scientists 2023
The Dairy Research Foundation is pleased to showcase the research and talent of Australia’s emerging dairy scientists at the 2023 Symposium. Their presentations are key to Day 2 of our program. Each scientist will have five minutes to deliver their presentation followed by some time for questions and discussions.
The intent behind this encounter is to offer an opportunity for professional development for these emerging scientists. The program is in the form of a competition, where we ask you, the audience, to assess the quality, relevance and interest of each presentation – with the audience scores combined to determine a winner. This is announced at the conclusion of the Farm Day. We encourage your full participation to support our next generation of dairy scientists.
Dr. Hannah Pooley
Dr. Hannah Pooley, a rising scientist in the field of livestock immunology, holds a PhD and has accumulated over a decade of valuable hands-on experience. She specializes in studying vaccine effectiveness and the critical factors that influence vaccine outcomes in ruminants. Dr. Pooley’s pioneering contributions to the field include co-leading a groundbreaking co-infection trial that unveiled the intricate interplay between bacterial and parasitic infections, shedding light on their profound effects on immunity. Her research has also revealed the impact of tick infestations on calf vaccine responses, a discovery with potential repercussions for the health of dairy cattle.
In addition to her research endeavors, Dr. Pooley is a dedicated lecturer who is committed to providing practical, real-world learning experiences for her students. Her exceptional communication skills have earned her international acclaim, exemplified by the prestigious Richard Merkal Fellowship, which she received for her outstanding written and oral presentations. Dr. Pooley has also successfully secured grants and fellowships, including a significant project dedicated to investigating the effects of tick infestations and parasitism on cattle vaccine responsiveness.
Title: Tick infestation reduces the ability of calves to mount a successful vaccine response
Boris J Sepulveda
Boris J Sepulveda has a Bachelor of Animal Science and a Master of Science in Bioinformatics from the National University of Colombia, where he conducted a genome-wide association study on sheep meat quality. Before moving to Australia in 2019 Boris worked in molecular biology laboratories in Colombia for five years. Since arriving in Australia in September 2019, Boris has worked as a scientist for DataGene Ltd, the company responsible for genetic evaluations of dairy cattle in Australia, where he has done genotype and pedigree analyses.
Boris is in the final year of a PhD in Computational Biology at La Trobe University. In his Ph.D., he have explored the role of dairy cattle genomics and ruminal metagenomics on cattle enteric methane emissions, conducting analyses in more than 800 dairy cows from Australia and Spain, one of the largest studies in the field. The result of the Ph.D. is expected to contribute to reducing methane emissions of dairy cattle, a vital objective for the Australian dairy industry.
Title: Selecting for reduced methane emissions using genomics and ruminal metagenomics from two dairy cattle populations
Bereket Tunkala
Bereket Tunkala completed his bachelor’s degree in Animal Production and Health at Jimma University in Ethiopia. Bereket pursued his master’s degree in Agricultural Sciences at Bonn University in Germany. Prior to his PhD studies at the University of Melbourne, Bereket worked as a researcher specializing in livestock nutrition and physiology at the Southern Agricultural Research Institute of Ethiopia. Bereket is also a proud father of three children. His primary research and career focus lies in the field of ruminant nutrition, with a particular emphasis on optimizing milk/meat production and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions through innovative feed technology.
Title: In vitro protein protection in rumen using tannin extract from Bauhinia hookeri
Michael Fitzgerald
Michael Fitzgerald has 16 years professional experience consisting of roles in environmental regulation, soil science, chemical storage, contaminated sites, GIS and dairy science industries. Michael has a degree in Agriculture and Environmental Science and a research master’s in engineering science.
Michael has previously worked as a Senior Technical Officer in the soils research unit with NSW DPI which included work on a dairy specific research project, namely More Profit for Nitrogen (MPN). In this project Michael managed the experimental design, trial management and reporting of results.
Title: Fate of fertiliser nitrogen in a ryegrass–kikuyu dairy pasture system
David Sheedy
David Sheedy grew up in the coastal town of Warrnambool in Victoria. He completed his veterinary training at the University of Melbourne and practiced primarily as dairy veterinarian in South-West Victoria. He was accepted into the University of California Davis’s Dairy Production Medicine Residency, a three-year dairy specialist program situated in the Central Valley of California in 2018. There he was exposed to large scale, intensive dairy systems with an average herd size of 1,700 that helped to make the region the largest dairy producing region of the world. Whilst there he also attained a Master of Preventative Veterinary Medicine and passed board examinations for the American College of Veterinary Preventative Medicine and the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners – Dairy Practice. He has since returned to Australia and has taken up a PhD position, exploring cow longevity and its potential to increase the sustainability and profitability of dairy systems, at Scibus and the University of Sydney.
Title: Culling reasons on Australian dairy farms
Mulisa Dida
Mulisa Dida’s Ph.D. involves analyzing net carbon emissions from dairy farms to assess the real environmental impact of these systems and ways to achieve carbon neutrality. He joins the Dairy UP team under the supervision of Prof. Luciano Gonzalez and Prof. Yani Garcia at the University of Sydney. Mulisa holds a Bachelor of Science in Animal and Range Science from Mada Walabu University and a Master of Science in Animal Production from Haramaya University in Ethiopia. He worked as a researcher in the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research’s Livestock research division from 2013 to 2020. His work experience and skills in research and development focus on animal feeds and nutrition, forage production and management, feeding, and management of beef and dairy animals, livestock production systems, and sustainable intensification of mixed crop-livestock production.
Title: Dietary Concentrate Supplementation Increases Milk Production and Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions Intensity in Pasture-based Commercial Dairy Farms
Sreemol Nair
Sreemol Nair is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Agricultural Sciences at The University of Melbourne. Her educational journey commenced with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science at Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Kerala, India. Subsequently, she completed a Master of Science in Animal Nutrition from the same institution, with a research focus on metabolic and productive responses to dietary protein levels in transition cows.
In addition to her academic background, she has gained practical experience as an Assistant Professor Department of Animal Nutrition, Hassan Veterinary College, Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University, Karnataka, India. Sreemol’s current Ph.D. research is centred on the use of probiotics in ruminants to reduce methane emissions.
Title: Comparative study on deworming potential of herbal drugs in crossbred heifers at an organized dairy farm
Ishaya Gadzama
Ishaya Gadzama’s research interests in ruminant nutrition stem from his undergraduate studies in animal science, where he developed a fascination for the complex interactions between feed, microbes and hosts that determine animal performance and environmental impact. Ishaya has a strong passion for ruminant nutrition, and during his first master’s degree in animal science, he investigated how different types of milk replacers influenced the growth and development of Holstein Friesian dairy calves during the pre-weaning and post-weaning periods.
Ishaya has a strong interest in optimizing the fermentation process in the rumen (the main site of microbial fermentation in ruminant animals), and its efficiency in improving meat and milk production and quality. Ishaya’s Master of Philosophy (MPhil) research at the University of Queensland focuses on the effects of dietary manipulation on rumen fermentation, methane emissions, and animal performance in sheep.
Title: Soymilk Replacer versus Whole Milk: Effects on Calf Performance
Alice Shirley
Alice Shirley is a a second year PhD candidate the University of Sydney exploring the use of novel monitoring tools to optimise individual animal management. This work is exploring the use of core body temperature sensors to develop a data-driven approach to alleviate heat stress in dairy cattle. With a particular interest in large animal studies and animal production, Alice graduated from USYD in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Advanced Studies (Animal and Veterinary Bioscience) (Hons I). Alice has a strong passion for animal health and welfare, spending a significant portion of my time in the country working with livestock, including my own herd of registered dairy goats.
Title: Revealing the diversity in response to heat for individual cattle fitted with a reticuloruminal sensor, through the development of a threshold model to identify water intake
Md Rezaul Hai Rakib
Rezaul is a PhD candidate at The University of Sydney under the School of Life and Environmental Sciences. He is also a research staff of Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh, which is the only national research institute in Bangladesh regarding livestock production and health.
His academic journey began with a Bachelor’s degree in Animal Husbandry, followed by a Master’s in Dairy Science, both from Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh. Committed to expanding his knowledge, he pursued postgraduate training in India and China. His research focus lies in the realm of dairy production, with a particular interest in understanding the mechanisms underlying thermotolerance in dairy cows.
Title: Can heat stress be detected in the milk of dairy cows?