Early Career Council Members

Paul Smith

Chair, Trustee

Paul Smith Chair, Trustee

Role: Chair

Organisation: Teagasc

Paul is a Beef Research officer, based in Teagasc Grange in Ireland. Paul’s work is primarily focused on developing strategies to reduce enteric methane emissions from cattle, as well as understanding the role of the rumen microbiome in sustainable livestock production. After completing a Walsh Scholar PhD in 2021, with Teagasc and University College Dublin (UCD), titled “Understanding the interactive role of the rumen microbiome with diet and enteric emissions in cattle”, Paul undertook a Post-Doctoral Research position with Teagasc (EU funded HoloRuminant project), before being appointed a permeant researcher. Prior to commencing his PhD, Paul completed his undergraduate studies, in Animal Science, at UCD and subsequently worked as an Agricultural Policy Officer for the Irish young farmer organisation, Macra na Feirme. Paul has been a BSAS member since 2018 and has acted as the Teagasc representative on the Early Career Council (ECC). Of recent, Paul has played a key role in the establishment of the ECC Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with farm organisations across the UK and Ireland.

Lucy Ross

Deputy Chair

Lucy Ross Deputy Chair

Dr Lucy Ross - www.linkedin.com/in/lucyhross

Role: Deputy chair

Organisation: Promar International

Bio: Lucy is a sustainability consultant at Promar International working with farmers and food businesses across the whole food supply chain. Her work specialises in carbon footprint assessments, methane mitigation solutions, and developing net-zero pathways for agricultural industries. Lucy completed her PhD in 2023 with the University of Nottingham and AHDB. Her research looked at improving heifer rearing efficiency of fully-housed dairy systems in the UK which contributed to AHDB’s project on whole-farm feed efficiency. Prior to her role at Promar International, Lucy's global perspective was developed during a year in New Zealand, where she worked on several dairy and beef farms, expanding her experience in the sustainability of different livestock systems. With a five-year tenure as a BSAS member, Lucy has acted as the University of Nottingham's representative on the Early Career Council for four years and now holds the position of deputy chair. Lucy is also a registered BSAS Animal Scientist and an active Women In Dairy member, with keys interests in farm efficiency and youngstock management of dairy and beef systems.

Holly Vickery

Deputy Chair

Holly Vickery Deputy Chair

Dr Holly Vickery - Staff Directory - Dr Holly Vickery | Harper Adams University (harper-adams.ac.uk)

Role: Deputy chair

Organisation: Harper Adams University

Holly is an Animal Behaviour and Welfare scientist with a particular interest in how findings can be practically utilised by stakeholders and is fascinated by applied research, participatory engagement, and science communication. She graduated from the University of Bristol in 2018 with a first-class BSc in Animal Behaviour and Welfare and then completed her PhD at the University of Reading titled “The behaviour and welfare of goat kids during the milk feeding stage and weaning transition”. In 2022 her thesis research won the RSPCA/BSAS Prize for Research with Animal Impact by Scientists in Early Career (PRAISE). Currently she is a lecturer at Harper Adams University and has been on the ECC for four years, currently serving as deputy chair. In the future Holly hopes to continue to work on bridging the divide between research and application with a focus on practical higher welfare strategies for farms.

Viola Farci

Council Member

Viola Farci Council Member

Contact Email: v.farci.1@research.gla.ac.uk

Q: Where are you based for your PhD/job?

A: University of Glasgow

Q: What area of animal science is your PhD/job associated with?

A: Nutrition and Health

Q: What animal(s) is your research/job associated with?

A: Horses and Cattle

Q: What is the focus of your PhD/job?

A: My PhD project is focused on the effect of feed processing on digestibility and microbiome of horses and ruminants

Hayley Marshall

Council Member

Hayley Marshall Council Member

Contact Email: Hayley.Marshall1@nottingham.ac.uk

Q: Where are you based for your PhD/job?

A: University of Nottingham

Q: What area of animal science is your PhD/job associated with?

A: Health & Disease

Q: What animal(s) is your research/job associated with?

A: Sheep

Q: What is the focus of your PhD/job?

A: I am a PhD student working to optimising the use of footbathing for the prevention of lameness in sheep.

Victoria Lindsay

Council Member

Victoria Lindsay Council Member

Contact Email: Victoria.lindsay-mcgee@ed.ac.uk

Q: Where are you based for your PhD/job?

A: The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh

Q: What area of animal science is your PhD/job associated with?

A: Equine science, particularly genetics/genomics and clinical data modelling

Q: What animal(s) is your research/job associated with?

A: Horses

Q: What is the focus of your PhD/job?

A: I am teaching track staff teaching equine exercise physiology, genetics, statistics and horse husbandry to PGT and UG students – my research interests include equine genetics, equine complex disease, equine muscle, and data modelling including using retrospective clinical data.

Eric Newton

Council Member

Eric Newton Council Member

Eric is based at the University of Reading, completing a PhD aimed at further understanding the nutritional and microbiological implications concerning the introduction of alternative source phycological supplementation of dairy cattle for consumers and the public health.

Hazel Rooney

Council Member

Hazel Rooney Council Member

Contact email: hazel.rooney@alltech.com

Q: Where are you based for your PhD/job?

A: I am currently based in Alltech’s European Headquarters in Dunboyne, Co. Meath, Ireland.

Q: What area of animal science is your PhD/job associated with?

A: Predominately animal nutrition and production, with a small focus on animal welfare and health.

Q: What animal(s) is your research/job associated with?

A: Currently my role is associated with pigs only. However, I will also be working with poultry in the future.

Q: In one sentence explain the focus of your PhD/job

A: I am the Pig Technical Co-Ordinator for Alltech Ireland and my focus is to understand the challenges faced by the Irish Pig Industry, and how we at Alltech can help our producers to overcome those challenges. I recently completed a one-year collaborative Postdoc project with the Teagasc Pig Development Department and the Teagasc Food Chemistry Department in the area of weaner nutrition (November 2019-2020). Prior to that, I obtained a PhD in sow nutrition with University College Dublin and the Teagasc Pig Development Department (2016-2019). The title of my research thesis was ‘Maternal feeding strategies during gestation and lactation to optimise annual sow output and to promote the growth and development of progeny from large litters’.

Oliver Ashton

Council Member

Oliver Ashton Council Member

Contact email: oashton01@qub.ac.uk

Q: Where are you based for your PhD/job?

A: Queen’s University Belfast & Devenish Nutrition

Q: What area of animal science is your PhD/job associated with?

A: Animal Nutrition, Health and Biochemistry

Q: What animal(s) is your research/job associated with?

A: Pigs

Q: In one sentence explain the focus of your PhD/job

A: My project aims to develop and characterise novel feed supplements which minimise infection and improve immunity in piglets.

BSAS ECC allows me to meet people in a similar area of research, with varied careers. BSAS also provides the opportunities to present research and get involved with conferences.

Katie Dubarry

Council Member

Katie Dubarry Council Member

Contact email: katie.dubarry@ed.ac.uk

Q: Where are you based for your PhD/job?

The Roslin Institute in the Ruminant Functional Genomics group, & SRUC.

Q: What area of animal science is your PhD/job associated with?

Genetics and genomics

Q: What animal(s) is your research/job associated with?

Sheep

Q: What is the focus of your PhD/job?

My PhD looks at the gene expression of immune cells circulating in the bloodstream. It aims to discover new genetic variants that could be used in breeding programmes. I hope that my project will contribute to the future breeding of healthier sheep that are more resilient to disease.

Q: What has being a member of the BSAS ECC council meant for you?

I’m looking forward to contributing to the great work of the ECC, providing a voice and events for our Early Career members.

Matt Craven

Council Member

Matt Craven Council Member

Contact Email: m.j.craven1@newcastle.ac.uk

Q: Where are you based for your PhD/job?

A: Newcastle University

Q: What area of animal science is your PhD/job associated with?

A: Welfare, health, and behaviour

Q: What animal(s) is your research/job associated with?

A: Chickens

Q: What is the focus of your PhD/job?

A: For my PhD project, I am investigating the interactions between the housing environment, chronic stress, and the gut microbiome in laying hens.

Kareem Damilola

Council Member

Kareem Damilola Council Member

Contact Email: kareemdu@funaab.edu.ng / kareem.damilola@unesp.br

Q: Where are you based for your PhD/job?

A: I have a Master's degree (Monogastric Animal Nutrition) at Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta FUNAAB), Nigeria and currently on another Master's degree (Animal Science - Modelling in Poultry Nutrition) programme at São Paulo State University (UNESP), Brazil

Q: What area of animal science is your MSc/job associated with?

A: Monogastric Nutrition, Feed technology, Modelling

Q: What animal(s) is your research/job associated with?

A: Poultry

Q: What is the focus of your PhD/job?

A: M. Agric - FUNAAB: Response of broiler chickens to diets of varying particle sizes supplemented with graded levels of Multienzyme

M. Sc - UNESP: Efficiency and incorporation of methionine and cystine in chickens in dose response tests and stable isotopes

Jacob Musa

Council Member

Jacob Musa Council Member

Contact Email: Jam190@aber.ac.uk

Q: Where are you based for your PhD/job?

A: Translational Genomics facility, Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, UK.

Q: What area of animal science is your PhD/job associated with?

A: Genomics and Bioinformatics

Q: What animal(s) is your research/job associated with?

A: Cattle/Sheep

Q: What is the focus of your PhD/job?

A: My Masters research focused on the assessment of MKL1 polymorphism and association with body measurement traits in White Fulani and Muturu Cattle breeds of Nigeria.

My current role include Metagenomic study of sheep stool. I am looking for possible association between bacteria genus level aggregate in the sheep stool sample and viral disease incident in the sheep population

Daria Baran

Council Member

Daria Baran Council Member

Daria Baran – (1) Daria Baran | LinkedIn

Role: BSAS Events Committee ECC Rep

Organisation: University of Bristol

Bio: Daria is currently completing her PhD at University of Bristol looking at developing an automatic detection system for changes in social behaviour of dairy cows for early detection of disease. The project involves working with Artificial intelligence and a camera system for live tracking of animals across the farm. Previously, Daria was an Animal Scientist at a start-up company developing a technological solution to reduce methane emissions from cattle. Within this role she has collaborated with many research institutions and farmers across the UK. Daria is a BSAS registered Animal Scientist and ROMS accredited mobility scorer with key interests in dairy cow health, welfare and sustainability.

Christopher Carroll

Council Member

Christopher Carroll Council Member

Contact Email: christophercarroll15@hotmail.com

Q: Where are you based for your PhD/job?

A: I am based for my Job at the Genus offices in Nantwich, Cheshire.

Q: What area of animal science is your PhD/job associated with?

A: My job is associated with animal breeding / quantitative genetics

Q: What animal(s) is your research/job associated with?

A: My job is primarily associated with dairy animals with some emphasis on beef animals.

Q: What is the focus of your PhD/job?

A: The focus of my job is to evaluate the economics around herd-specific custom indexes, create new insights which show the performance of genetics on farm and compare that to farm productivity.

Olivia Bolton

Council Member

Olivia Bolton Council Member

Contact email: obolton@live.harper.ac.uk

Q: Where are you based for your PhD/job?

A. Harper Adams University

Q: What area of animal science is your PhD/job associated with?

A. Behaviour, health and welfare

Q: What animal(s) is your research/job associated with?

A. Dairy calves

Q: What is the focus of your PhD/job?

A. My PhD is looking at the behavioural, physiological and production effects of dairy cow-calf rearing systems.

Rachel Doyle

Council Member

Rachel Doyle Council Member

Dr Rachel Doyle - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-doyle-9a43b479/

Role: ECC Events Subgroup

Organisation: Teagasc

Bio: Rachel is an Animal Reproduction Technologist in Teagasc Moorepark. Her current work specialises in reproductive physiology across a number of areas including the use of assisted reproductive technologies to accelerate genetic gain in dairy and beef breeds. Rachel completed her Walsh Scholarship PhD in 2020 with Teagasc and the University of Missouri. Her research looked at elucidating the physiological mechanisms underpinning fertility in lactating dairy cows. Rachel completed her undergraduate studies, in Animal Science, at UCD. Prior to her role at Teagasc, Rachel was as a Lecturer at South East Technological University (SETU) in the Department of Land Science. Rachel has over 10-years of practical work experience in the agricultural sector, including dairy, sheep, pigs, and beef. Rachel has been a member of the Early Careers Council since 2022.

Mark Kearney

Council Member

Mark Kearney Council Member

Q: Where are you based for your PhD/job?
A: Teagasc & University College Dublin

Q: What area of animal science is your PhD/job associated with?
A: Dairy Beef, Agricultural Systems & Modelling

Q: What animal(s) is your research/job associated with?
A: Beef Cattle

Q: What is the focus of your PhD/job?
The focus of my PhD is to develop a bioeconomic model to look at the economic, environmental and feed-food competition performance of dairy beef production systems.

Georgina Smith

Council Member

Georgina Smith Council Member

Role: Sponsorship and Awards Committee Rep

Organisation: University of Leeds

Bio: Georgie is a PhD student at Leeds working on pre-wean piglet performance. Their project focusses on gut health and promotion of an optimal microbiota in the hindgut using compounds naturally found in the sow’s milk. They have developed an in vitro model of the piglet colon using batch fermentation techniques to provide a high-throughput method of testing various treatments. Georgie is most interested in milk oligosaccharides present in colostrum and how we may be able to use synthetic formulations of these structures to better supplement existing milk replacers. Prior to their PhD, Georgie lectured at University Centre Bishop Burton specialising in Equine Nutrition and Biomechanics. Their passion for research in nutrition stemmed from Undergraduate and Masters degrees at Hartpury University studying Equine Science (UG) and Equestrian Performance (MRes). Georgie may have swapped horses for piglets in their research, but they are still a keen equestrian at heart!

Harriet Bunning

Council Member

Harriet Bunning Council Member

Contact Email: harriet.bunning@ahdb.org.uk

Q: Where are you based for your PhD/job?

A: I am the lead animal genetics expert covering beef at AHDB, a levy board supporting the farming industry. I’m based in our head office in Warwickshire, but travel the UK through my work with beef farmers. I did my PhD at SRUC and the University of Edinburgh.

Q: What area of animal science is your PhD/job associated with?

A: Quantitative Genetics and Animal Breeding

Q: What animal(s) is your research/job associated with?

A: Primarily beef cattle, but I’m also interested in beef produced from the dairy herd

Q: What is the focus of your PhD/job?

A: My main focus is our National Beef Evaluations, which publish EBVs to measure the genetic merit of cattle across the UK. I’m also interested in how we can encourage more farmers to use these genetic evaluations to improve their herds.

During PhD at SRUC and University of Edinburgh I modelled crossbreeding strategies for farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Isabel Lewis

Council Member

Isabel Lewis Council Member

Dr Issy Lewis – https://www.linkedin.com/in/drisabellewis

Role: Fledgling and Animal Byte Co-ordinator

Organisation: Hartpury University

Bio: Issy is an early careers Animal Health Lecturer at Hartpury University, sharing her expertise on diseases in livestock. Her work specialises in virology, during her PhD where she studied virulence factors of Capripoxviruses working at world leading institutes: The Pirbright Institute (UK), The Friedrich Loeffler Institut (Germany) and The Royal Veterinary College (UK). This research has led her to present my results at conferences in both Europe and the United States. More recently during her tenure at ARU Writtle her work expanded from developing the rationale for vaccine development to investigating animal health and welfare from needle-free vaccine delivery systems. Currently her work focuses on lecturing and supervising the next generation of Animal scientists. Her key areas of interest are livestock diseases, viruses, vaccinations and their implications on animal health, welfare, and management. Issy has been a member of the Early Career Council for one year and now is the co-ordinator of both the Fledgling and Animal Bytes.

Stefan Yerby

Council Member

Stefan Yerby Council Member

Stef is a dairy cattle researcher, completing his PhD based at The University of Glasgow, and funded by Alltech. Born and raised in Guernsey, Stef spent a decade working in the sheep and dairy industry before moving into academia, where he completed BSc in Veterinary Science and an MSc in Livestock Science at IBERS and The University of Guelph prior to starting his doctoral studies. Stef’s PhD is focussed on using feed additives to enhance dairy cattle feed performance, welfare, and environmental output. Passionate about animal welfare, Stef is the scientific member of the University of Glasgow’s AWERB Culture of Care Committee, as well as being a licensed CowSignals Master trainer.

Lynda Perkins

Council Member

Lynda Perkins Council Member

Professor Christ Elliott, Queens Belfast - OFC18

Role: Social Media

Organisation: Queen’s University Belfast

Email: l.perkins@qub.ac.uk	ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-4303-125X
Google Scholar: Lynda S. Perkins	Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/lynda-perkins-2a906314b

Lynda is a post-doctoral researcher at the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast. Originally from England, Lynda moved to Northern Ireland after completing her undergraduate degree in Animal Science at Writtle College in Essex. Having completed her PhD in 2021, Lynda has continued her research into improving the nutritional and sensory quality of ruminant meat and the implications on human health through animal trials which follow onto human intervention studies. In addition, Lynda explores advanced methods for the detection of meat quality traits using rapid mass spectrometry platforms and subsequent chemometric modelling. Expanding from her core research, Lynda is exploring Nutritional Life Cycle Analysis (nLCA) to address environmental issues to contribute to net zero targets for agriculture. Much of Lynda’s research offers valuable opportunities to work closely with other universities, institutions and industry partners across the UK, Europe and beyond.

Lynda is a regular at the BSAS annual conference having attended her first in 2016 presenting her undergraduate dissertation project. Lynda was awarded the Academia Association of the British Society of Animal Science award in 2016 and The British Society of Animal Science Best National Poster award in 2017. In 2023, Lynda won Best Poster at the Healthy and Sustainable Diets: The role of animal derived foods meeting hosted by SCI, The British Society of Animal Science and The Centre for Innovation and Excellence in Livestock. In her spare time Lynda is a competitive netball player, enjoys running and is an avid hiker who is often found exploring Northern Ireland’s Mourne mountain range.