IGA Blog

Profile – Yoshiaki Hayashi

11/9/2018

Country Representative for Japan

Yoshi is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Agriculture at Meijo University. He is the Country Coordinator for the Asian Australasian Dairy Goat Network and the current Secretariat for the Japan Goat Network. Yoshi is also a member of the International Advisory Committee for the Conference on Sustainable Animal Agriculture for Developing Countries.

Profile – Hsiu-Luan Chang

9/14/2018

Country Representative for Taiwan

Hsiu-Luan is Professor of Animal Science at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST). She holds a bachelor’s degree (BSc) in Animal Husbandry from the National Taiwan University, Taiwan. She also received her Master of Science (MSc) and Doctoral degrees (Ph.D.) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, in 1988.

After a brief stint at the same university, UI, as a post-doctoral researcher, she moved back to Taiwan and joined Taiwan Livestock Research Institute (TLRI) in 1989-2004 with research responsibilities. Her research focused on animal breeding and genetic evaluation of livestock to promote the genetic progress of pig, dairy cattle, goat and chicken industry in Taiwan. She also coordinated the national germplasm preservation program for farm animals from 1989 to 2004 before transferring to the NPUST.

Profile – Marisia Geraci

8/14/2018

Country Representative for South Africa

Marisia has been the CEO for HPSA (Heifer Project South Africa) since 2009 and worked previously (2001 to 2009) for Heifer International.

Profile – Dr. Osman Mahgoub

8/6/2018

Country Representative for the Sultanate of Oman

Osman is a professor of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at Sultan Qaboos University, Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences. He holds a BSc in Veterinary Science and MSc in Meat Production from the University of Khartoum, Sudan and a Ph.D. from Lincoln College, University of Canterbury, New Zealand.

Profile – Dr. Vicki McLean

8/1/2018

Country Representative for New Zealand

Vicki graduated from the University of California Davis with a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine and a Master’s Degree in Epidemiology and Population Medicine. She spent three years teaching at the University of Missouri Veterinary School before immigrating to New Zealand. She was a lecturer and a farm services clinician at the only veterinary teaching institution in New Zealand. She lectured at Massey University Veterinary School in NZ for four years and concurrently obtained a Ph.D. in dairy cattle mastitis with emphasis on Streptococcus uberis mastitis. Vicki went into private practice for nine years working in the Waikato Region of the North Island of NZ. In practice, she worked on species including small animals, but her main work was with dairy goats, dairy cattle, beef, sheep, and pig operations. She treated the individual animals, but always focused on the prevention of further clinical cases. In the last few years of private practice, half of the clients she had were commercial dairy goat farmers. After three years of doing contract health audits for all the Dairy Goat Cooperative Ltd (DGC) farms, they decided to employ Vicki full time.

Profile – Heather Rose Briggs

7/30/2018

Country Representative for United Kingdom

Heather is a mature, part-time, self-funded Ph.D. candidate at the Sustainability Research Institute, University of Leeds. Her interest in goats stems from work done in translations for a number of specialist researchers on the caprine species. She holds an MSc in Agricultural Economics from Wye College, University of London and is a freelance agricultural journalist regularly working for numerous national and international agricultural trade publications. She also has experience as manager of an agricultural cooperative based in Spain and exporting fruit and vegetables to the UK and the Netherlands. Her doctoral research involves investigating links between sustainable intensification and vertical farming. She is also an international cheese judge, judging at the Nantwich International Cheese Awards and the World Cheese Awards.

Profile – Luca Rapetti

7/17/2018

Country Representative for Italy

Luca is an associate professor in Animal Nutrition and Feeding at the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences - Production, Landscape, Agroenergy, of the University of Milan. He carried out several researches, mainly at the experimental farm of the Department, aimed at evaluating the requirements of dairy goats and the nutritive value of feeds and diets, with a view to sustainability and quality of production.

Luca is a member of the Cheese Tester National Organization. He is mainly involved in goat cheese evaluation. In few words, from forage to cheese!

Want to learn more about our other Country Representatives? Click here.

Profile – Dr. Irfan Daskiran

7/13/2018

Country Representative for Turkey

Irfan has over 25 years of experience and expertise in livestock production. He received his Master of Science and Ph.D. in animal husbandry and breeding & selection systems from Ankara University, Turkey.

He started his career as an Agricultural Engineer in Turkish Agricultural Bank for ten years and later transferred to the Yuzuncu Yil University, Faculty of Agriculture, Animal Sciences Department as an Assistant Professor in Van, Turkey. Irfan worked as a Lecturer and Researcher in University and managed the Vocational School of Bitlis for two years.

Profile – Dr. David Dowdy

6/5/2018

Country Representative for Uganda

David received his Ph.D. in Physical Organic Chemistry. He worked for British Gas from 1983 to 1993 as a research scientist.

David has spent the past 24 years living in Uganda. From 1993 to 2009, he headed JOY Youth Training Centre which was also a goat farm that supplied breeding stock throughout over Uganda, and to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda & Burundi.

Profile – Dr. Francisco de Asis Ruiz Morales

5/29/2018

Francisco obtained a Ph.D. in Animal Science and Sustainable Management as well a degree in Technical Agricultural Engineering from the University of Seville. He also received a degree in Environmental Sciences from the University Pable de Olavide.

Francisco’s research experience is focused in the field of sustainable management of small ruminant systems and the marketing of their products. He has developed his work in different research centers and universities, including the University of Seville (Spain), the Agency for Agricultural Research in Sardinia (Italy), the French Livestock Institute (France) and in his current research center, the Andalusian Institute of Agricultural Research and Training.