Confirmed Speakers for the Horizons in Livestock 2006 Conference:
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The Impact of the Genomics Revolution on the Future
Farm  Leif
Andersson is professor in Functional Genomics at Uppsala
University and professor in Animal Genetics at the
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala,
Sweden. The work in his group focuses on unraveling
the molecular basis for phenotypic diversity in domestic
animals, from coat color to metabolic traits. He is
particularly interested in domestication as an evolutionary
model and in using domestic animals for biomedical
research. He and his group have generated highly informative
intercrosses between the wild boar and domestic pigs
as well as between the red junglefowl and domestic
chicken. The intercrosses have been used for detection
of Quantitative Trait Loci (QTLs). Andersson is an
elected member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences,
the Royal Swedish Academy of Forestry and Agriculture
and the Royal Physiographic Society in Lund.
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CSU and FATE: Increasing Financial and Environmental
Resilience in Rural and Regional Australia |
Risky Decisions |
Genetic Engineering |
Global Culture, Global Agri-Culture? |
The Role of Bioeconomics in the Farm of the Future |
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Interactions of Diet and Genetics How Can We Produce
Healthy Nations? |
Reconnecting People with Agriculture |
Educational Needs for the Livestock Researcher
of the Future |
Biophysical and Socioeconomic Constraints Shaping
Technological Evolution of Agriculture Research as Visiting Scientist: Cornell University (1987 - 89 and 1993 - 95); Wageningen University (1997); European Commission Joint Research Center, Ispra, (1998); Universitat Autonoma Barcelona (1999 - 2000); Wisconsin University Madison, (2002); Penn State University (2005-2006). Research interests: Integrated Assessment of Scenarios and Technological Changes in Agriculture; Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecological Metabolism; Science for Governance. Publications: over 100 papers on refereed Journals and chapters of books, plus a book by CRC Press entitled "Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Agro-ecosystems". |
Vision for Food: Life or Death He has degrees in Agriculture (Reading), Animal Production (Cambridge), Animal Genetics (Reading) and in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School. Born in the UK he now lives in Austria and writes and speaks on ethics, genetics and values in agriculture and the food chain.
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Researching for Emergence |
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Led by the Nose – Facilitator |
Presentation title to be advised |
Led by the Nose |
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Small Worlds and Giant Epidemics |
Risky Decisions – Facilitator |
Current & Future Trends in Livestock Farming:
An Indian Perspective |
The Evolution of the Scientist |
Precision Livestock Farming He was awarded the 2002 Research Medal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England for his research on environmental management of livestock, is an elected Fellow of the Institution of Agricultural Engineers and was appointed Chairman of the Farm Animal Welfare Council in 2005. |
The Nationhood of New Zealand Agricultural Science In the 1980s, he worked for New Zealand's Department for Scientific and Industrial Research, researching soil erosion in North Island hill country and the soil carbon cycle. In the late 1980's and early 1990s Dr West played a major role in the New Zealand Government's science reforms. He was instrumental in the design and establishment of the Ministry of Research and Technology, the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, the Crown Research Institutes and the Crown Company Monitoring Advisory Unit. He was also Personal Advisor to the Minister of Research, Science and Technology. In 1995, while with Ernst & Young, Dr West developed a sector-wide strategy for the New Zealand red meat industry. He then joined AgResearch as it's Manager of Strategy. In the late 1990s, he was Chief Executive of the CRI, Geological and Nuclear Sciences Ltd. In 2001 he was Chief Executive of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and from 2001 to 2004 he was Executive Chairman of the Tertiary Education Commission, which led the reform of tertiary education in New Zealand with an annual budget of $2.2 billion. Dr West is a director on a wide range of commercial boards and is a Member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors of NZ and a Fellow of the NZ Institute of Management. |
Ecological Impacts on Future Farming |
Presentation title to be advised |
Mike
Archer was born in Sydney in 1945. His career in vertebrate
palaeontology began when he was 11 and proceeded with
undergraduate training in geology and biology at Princeton
University (BA Geol./Biol. 1967), consecutive Fulbright
Scholarships for palaeontological research in the
Western Australian Museum, Perth (1967-69) and a PhD
in Zoology at the University of Western Australia
(1976). 
Melissa
Bateson graduated from Oxford University with a first
class degree Zoology and went on to obtain a doctorate
in animal behaviour focussing on the problem of how
and why animals respond to risk in their food sources.
She is currently a Royal Society University Research
Fellowship in animal decision making in the School
of Biology and Psychology at the University of Newcastle
upon Tyne. Melissa's work is characterised by an attempt
to integrate ideas from different fields. She has
written extensively on both mechanistic and evolutionary
explanations for risk-sensitivity, bringing together
ideas from biology, psychology and economics. She
is currently interested in applying ideas from human
and animal cognition to the design of novel approaches
for assessing animal welfare.
Agustín
Blasco is professor of Animal Breeding and Genetics
in the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain).
He studied Agriculture engineering and obtained his
Ph D with a Thesis in Rabbit genetics. His career
has been focused in quantitative genetics and animal
breeding, particularly with pigs and rabbits, with
a recent interest in ethics and animal welfare. He
was president of the World Rabbit Sceince Association
and editor-in-chief of the international journal World
Rabbit Science. He took two sabbatical years as a
visiting researcher, one in what was called Animal
Breeding Research Organisation (now Rolsin Institute,
Edinburgh, Scotland) and the other in the Institut
National de la Recherche Agronomique (Jouy-en-Josas,
France), and also spent six months in FAO as a visiting
scientist in 1998-99. He has been awarded by the European
Association for Animal Production and by the Spanish
association of animal science. He has been frequently
invited to present contributions in international
congresses. He has directed ten doctoral theses and
published more than 200 papers and contributions to
congresses, mainly on genetics of components of litter
size and genetics of meat quality.
Dr
Rob Burton is a senior researcher at the Macaulay
Institute in Aberdeen, Scotland. Much of his work
over the last five years has focused on upland livestock
farming in Scotland and the North of England. He
is currently investigating issues of cultural change
in farming communities, and specifically, the role
of cultural factors (e.g. social and symbolic capital)
and the broader rural community in infleuncing farmers'
responses to changing policy and economic environments.
Oscar
Cacho is Associate Professor of Agricultural and Resource
Economics at the University of New England, where
he teaches bioeconomics, operations research and farm
management. He started his professional career as
a marine biologist and later obtained a PhD in Economics.
In his work he combines biological principles and
economic techniques to tackle problems in agriculture
and natural resources. He is funded by Australian
and international organisations to undertake research
in topics such as global warming, grazing system risks,
management of invasive species and land degradation.
He is currently working with the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on economic
aspects of environmental services provided by landholders.
Shaun
Coffey is Chief of CSIRO Livestock Industries. He
is a graduate of the University of Melbourne where
his research interests were in plant selection. After
an early career in tertiary education, Shaun worked
for 5 years as CEO of the Cattleman's Union of Australia,
a major grower organisation. From 1990 to 1995 he
worked in the Queensland Department of Primary Industries
as Regional Director and then as Director of Research
and Extension. In 1995 he joined CSIRO and was appointed
Chief in 2000. Shaun has been active in a wide range
of professional interests. He has edited a rural newspaper,
was a member of the executive of the Australian Council
of Agricultural Journalists for several years (Vice
President from 1997 to 2002) and was awarded the Silver
Medal of the International Federation of Agricultural
Journalists in 2000 in recognition of his services
to rural journalism. Shaun is a Fellow of the Australian
Institute of Management and the Australian Institute
of Company Directors. In 2004 his contribution to
agricultural science and research was recognised in
his election to Fellowship of the Australian Academy
of Technological Sciences and Engineering. He is an
adjunct Professor in the University of Queensland.
Dr
Janet Dwyer is a Reader in Rural Studies at the Countryside
and Community Research Unit, University of Gloucestershire,
UK. Originally a biologist turned agricultural economist,
Janet's main research interests are in EU agricultural
and rural development policy and the environment,
and promoting more sustainable and socially beneficial
land management and rural economic activity. Janet
has over fifteen years experience in successful management
of UK and pan-European research work for mainly public
sector and NGO clients, including the European Commission
and UK and other national governments within the EU.
She is a frequent speaker at EU policy conferences
on rural development and agriculture. Recent projects
include the evaluation of agri-environment schemes
in the UK and Ireland, studies investigating farmer
adaptation to recent CAP reforms and its environmental
and social implications, and work on food quality
protocols and marketing and their relationship to
sustainable land management and the diffuse pollution
of water.
Professor
John Edwards is the Dean of the School of Veterinary
and Biomedical Sciences at Murdoch University in Perth,
Australia and is a former Chief Veterinary Officer
for Western Australia. He has a national and international
reputation for his work in the animal sciences with
emphasis on veterinary epidemiology, trans-boundary
animal diseases and animal biosecurity in Australia
and Asia. He now heads a school with programs in Animal
Science, Biomedical Science and Veterinary Science
and has a strong interest in the future of education
for scientists serving the livestock industries. 
Education:
Chemical Engineer, "Italian laurea" in
Biological Sciences, Master in Food System Economics,
PhD in Social Sciences (Wageningen University, NL).
John
Hodges was responsible at FAO in Rome for genetic
improvement of livestock in the developing world and
conservation of animal biodiversity. Previously he
was Professor of Animal Genetics at the University
of British Columbia, Canada, earlier taught at Cambridge
University and was Head of the Production Division
of the Milk Marketing Board of England and Wales.
Dr
Rob Kelly is Officer-in-Charge, CSIRO Livestock Industries
- Floreat in WA, a post he's held over the past 7
years. Following a PhD on the reproductive physiology
of sheep, Rob spent 10 years in New Zealand developing
ways to improve lambing performances and establishing
the deer industry. He returned to WA in 1983 to lead
sheep and wool research with the Department of Agriculture,
and has published widely on lamb survival and fetal
development. He is Chair of CSIRO Environment and
Life Sciences - a unit of 8 Divisions and 300 staff.
Professor
Kenkre is a Distinguished Professor of Physics at
the University of New Mexico, USA, in addition to
being the Director of the Consortium of the Americas
for Interdisciplinary Science. He has published over
230 research articles in physics and related journals
and has co-authored a monograph on Exciton Dynamics
in Molecular Aggregates. He is a Fellow of the American
Physical Society and a Fellow of the American Association
for Advancement of Science, and has received a number
of awards for his contributions to science as well
as for his work in establishing and enhancing international
collaborations. His research covers quantum physics,
statistical mechanics, light-matter interactions,
and interdisciplinary studies such as in granular
materials and complex biological/ecological systems.
Outside of science, he has interest in philosophy,
religion, art and literature. 
Denis
Mollison is Professor Emeritus of Applied Probability
V.
K. Taneja is currently working as Deputy Director
General (Animal Sciences) with Indian Council of Agricultural
Research and involved in formulation, implementation
and monitoring of research and technology development
programs in Animal Sciences. Taneja has research interests
in crossbreeding in dairy cattle, management of animal
genetic resources, sustainable animal production systems
and food security, livestock and environment and biotechnology.
He has significantly contributed to formulation of
National Livestock Policy, X Plan Perspective - research
and development in Livestock, Vision 2020 - Animal
Husbandry and Dairying and a contingency plan for
control of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.
Bruce
Walsh is a Professor in the Department of Ecology
& Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona,
where he is also Professor of Epidemiology & Biostatistics,
and Adjunct Professor of Animal Sciences, Plants Sciences,
and Molecular and Cellular Biology. His interests
include molecular and genome evolution, the genetics
of complex traits, and quantitative and population
genetics. Dr. Walsh has many Australian contacts,
having done a short sabbatical at the University of
New England and is presently collaborating with colleagues
at James Cook University, University of Queensland
, University of New South Wales, and the Queensland
Institute of Medical Research.
Christopher
Wathes is Professor of Animal Welfare at the Royal
Veterinary College, University of London. He was previously
Director of Science at the BBSRC's Silsoe Research
Institute from 1990 to 2005. He is a bio-physicist,
whose research concerns the environmental biology
and management of farm animals. He has co-authored
over 100 refereed papers and given over 20 keynote
or invited lectures at international conferences in
the past decade.
Dr
Andrew West has been the Chief Executive of AgResearch,
New Zealand's largest Crown Research Institute, since
May 2004.
Zhao
Yumin, senior research fellow, and director of trade
and sustainable department under the Chinese Academy
of International Trade and Economic Cooperation based
in Beijing. She received her master degree in Economics
in the University of International Business and Economics
in 1988. Before that she worked in Beijing Foreign
Trade Administration as assistant market analyst.
She started her academic career working on export
promotion strategies of Chinese particular industries.
As she has a good understanding of the trade investment
policy in China and state of domestic industry she
also acted as consultant to some foreign and local
institutes. She has longstanding relationship with
Japan External Trade Organization in providing them
consulting service. The most recent research assignment
is titled “What is central Asia and the Caucasus
to China— Their Geopolitical and Geo-economic
Meaning to China in the New Era of Hu Jintao and beyond
the War with Iraq”.