Speakers

Constance Cullman is the President and CEO of the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA), as well as the president of its public charity, the Institute for Feed Education and Research. In her role, she represents AFIA on international matters and serves on the boards of the International Feed Industry Federation and the Global Feed LCA Institute.

Before joining AFIA, Cullman was the President and CEO of Farm Foundation. 

Cullman is a member of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee and serves on the Nationwide Insurance Board Council.

Dr Tom Williams is the co-founder and CEO of Number 8 Bio. Originally from New Zealand, Tom studied biochemistry and microbiology at The University of Waikato before completing his PhD in synthetic biology at The University of Queensland in 2015. Tom then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Macquarie University building synthetic genomes, biosensors, and metabolic pathways in industrial microorganisms. In 2022 Tom became a Senior Lecturer at Macquarie University, Chief Scientist of the Australian Genome Foundry, and co-founded Number 8 Bio. In early 2023 Tom left academia to commit 100% of his time to Number 8 Bio and their mission to decarbonize agriculture and help establish a circular bio-economy.

Associate Professor Jessica Biesiekierski is a National Health and Medical Research Council Emerging Leadership Fellow and Head of Human Nutrition at the University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on dietary strategies for managing gut symptoms, including irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia. She investigates the mechanisms behind food intolerances and the effects of nutrients on gut-brain interactions, aiming to improve nutritional treatments for gut disorders. Jessica's award-winning trials on gluten sensitivity have shaped the field, and her recent accolades include the Rome Foundation Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction International Research Award (2024) and the Nutrition Society of Australia Mid-Career Research Award (2024).

Dr Ridoutt is a Principal Research Scientist with Australia’s national science agency – The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). His expertise is in life cycle sustainability assessment in the agriculture and food sectors which is used to address strategic challenges in relation to climate change, water scarcity, sustainable food systems, and sustainable diets. Dr Ridoutt is engaged in a range of international processes relating to the standardization of sustainability assessment and environmental labeling, including the development of ISO International Standards. His research is creating the main evidence base concerning the environmental impacts of dietary habits in Australia. He is a member of the National Health and Medical Research Council’s, Australian Dietary Guidelines – Sustainability Working Group.

Associate Professor Melody de Laat is a clinical and research veterinarian specialising in equine metabolic disease, endocrinopathic causes of lameness and novel drug development. She is based at Queensland University of Technology where she combines research with teaching and being deputy chair of the University Animal Ethics Committee. Dr de Laat is also a member and Past President of the Pharmacology chapter of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists and a member of the Global Equine Endocrinology group.

Professor Bryden recently retired as Foundation Chair of Animal Science at the University of Queensland and continues as an Emeritus Professor. His research interests include various aspects of animal nutrition and toxicology; especially gut health, feed quality/mycotoxicology, amino acid metabolism and equine foetal development. In 2003, Professor Bryden was awarded the Centenary Medal for his contributions to science and education. He Co-Chaired the Gordon Research Conference on Mycotoxins and Phycotoxins in 2005 and was a member of the WHO Expert Advisory Panel on Food Safety (2001-2018), European Commission Expert Assessor for Sustainable Food Security and Joint FAO/WHO Expert Group on Hazards Associated with Animal Feed. Professor Bryden is currently Editor-in-Chief of Animal Production Science.

Professor Pesti is Emeritus Professor of Poultry Science and Animal Nutrition at the University of Georgia.  He currently works part time at the Poultry Hub Australia at the University of New England.  His research interests have included aspects of feed formulation and labile methyl nutrition.  His teaching interests have centered on poultry nutrition, and profit maximizing feed formulation models.  Most recently his writings have been in the areas of experimental design and analyses and especially experimental power.

Ian Lean is the Managing Director of Scibus, a leading research and consulting firm for dairy and beef producers globally. An adjunct Professor at the University of Sydney, Ian has over 200 publications and 12,000 citations. He is renowned for his work on nutrition's impact on production, reproduction, and health, and has been a keynote speaker at international conferences across multiple continents.

Scibus excels in meta-analytic research and collaborates with public and private organizations to advance dairy cow nutrition, calf feeding, and ruminal acidosis. Ian is also a thought leader on the implications of population growth on food availability and the role of technology and activism in agriculture. He combines deep biological and economic insights to enhance farm profitability and enjoys working with cows and people.

Joe received his B.S.A. degree from the University of Arkansas in animal nutrition and received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Cornell University in equine nutrition and exercise physiology. He formed Kentucky Equine Research in 1988 to be an international research, consulting and product development firm dealing in the areas of equine nutrition and sports medicine.

Bill Mahanna was raised on a Holstein dairy in Upstate, New York.  He received a B.S. in Animal Science from Cornell University and a Ph.D. degree in Dairy Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Bill is an adjunct associate professor in the Animal Science Department at Iowa State University and a visiting professor at the State Agrarian University in the Ukraine.

Bill is currently the manager of the Pioneer Global Nutritional Sciences Team.  This team is responsible for providing technical support for Pioneer sales teams and interacting with Pioneer researchers to develop products to meet the needs of the dairy and beef industry. 

​Thank you to the Nutrition Society of Australia and Pioneer Seeds for supporting Bill's attendance.

Dr Stephen Wiedemann founder and Managing Director of Integrity Ag, a specialist agri-environmental consulting company.

Coming from a mixed farming background and with almost 20 years in agri-environmental research and consulting, Steve’s key areas of expertise include decarbonisation of agri-food and fibre supply chains, Carbon and Environmental Footprinting, carbon neutrality, carbon markets and environmental management.

Integrity Ag are Australia’s experts in ag-sector decarbonisation and sustainability assessment.

Dr. Rodrigo Albornoz received his Agricultural Engineering degree from the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina. Following graduation, he worked in the ruminant nutrition sector, and decided to further his knowledge by earning a MSc from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada and a PhD from Michigan State University in the USA on a Fulbright scholarship. In 2018, Dr. Albornoz joined the Agriculture Victoria Research Team at Ellinbank, where he investigated technologies and feeding strategies to improve production and profitability of dairy cows. In 2022, Dr. Albornoz joined Dairy Australia as National Lead in Feedbase and Nutrition, overseeing and prioritizing RD&E investment for the benefit of the Australian dairy industry.

Dr Luisa Olmo is an early career researcher at the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and an adjunct Research Fellow at the University of New England. Her versatile research in Animal Science has focused on improving the efficiency of smallholder livestock farms in Southeast Asia on Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) funded projects. Now, she focusses on microplastics in livestock and goat parasites in Western NSW. Dr Olmo has published 22 scientific articles covering livestock productivity monitoring and evaluation, veterinary epidemiology and diagnostics, GPS tracking, genotyping, marketing, value-chain and sociological surveys, and feeding trials.

Chris Carter is Professor of Aquaculture Nutrition at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (University of Tasmania) and a Program Leader in the Blue Economy CRC. He specialises in aquatic animal performance, nutritional physiology and feeding behaviour. To advance sustainable aquaculture his research aims to understand how aquatic ectotherms behave, feed and use nutrients in different aquaculture systems. The current focus is on impacts of climate change and mitigation strategies, including open ocean aquaculture, and the challenges they present around managing aquaculture production in suboptimum conditions.  

​Dr. Shiva Greenhalgh holds a PhD in Animal Nutrition and a Master’s in Animal Nutrition from the University of Sydney, along with a Bachelor of Science in Zoology and Bachelor of Arts. As the founder of Sydney Animal Nutrition, she has played an essential role in making credible, tailored nutritional support accessible to pet owners and veterinarians. Dr. Greenhalgh blends clinical expertise with industry insight, consulting on product development and education. Regularly featured in podcasts, radio, and print media, she is recognised as a leader in companion animal nutrition in Australia, committed to elevating understanding and standards across the industry and improving the lives of companion animals.

Richard is Professor of Carbon Farming at the University of Melbourne and science leader in the Zero Net Emissions Agriculture Cooperative Research Centre. His research focuses on carbon farming and accounting towards carbon neutral agriculture and options for agriculture to respond to a changing climate.

Richard developed the first greenhouse gas accounting tools, for all sectors of agriculture in Australia, that now form an agreed national standard for agriculture.  He is a science advisor to the Victorian, Australian, New Zealand, UK and EU governments, the International Livestock Research Institute and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization on climate change adaptation, mitigation and policy development in agriculture.​