Faculty of Land and Food Systems
The University of British Columbia
NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Dairy Cattle Welfare
Industrial Research Chairs program
Senior Chairholder since 2008
UBC’s Animal Welfare Program was created as an NSERC Industrial Research Chair in 1997 and has since grown to become the world’s leading research group working on dairy welfare. The current IRC, the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Dairy Cattle Welfare, builds upon these strong foundations to produce science-based recommendations that allow dairy producers to promote the health, welfare and productivity of their cattle. This funding helps maintain our ability to serve as the world’s leading research unit working in this area, and strengthens the position of the Canadian dairy industry in addressing the increasingly important issues around social sustainability of farm practices.
This Chair has played an integral role in the Canadian dairy industry. For example:
Proposed work for the 2019-2024 mandate falls under four themes:
In each of these themes, our research group already has an international reputation, and we have piloted much of the foundational work in the area. Building upon this foundation, we have identified areas where there is an urgent need for new applied research.
We will take advantage of our robust and longstanding relationships with local producers by conducting much of the proposed work on commercial dairy farms. This on-farm component will help ground our studies in commercial reality and ensure that any findings are of practical importance to the industry. We also propose a series of on-farm intervention studies that will allow us to document how producers respond to, and benefit from, different approaches to educational interventions. Finally, we describe experimental work that entails a level of disruption too great to impose on a commercial farm, and where the requirements for control and monitoring are better suited for our Dairy Education and Research Centre located in Agassiz, British Columbia.
Marina (Nina) von Keyserlingk accepted an academic appointment in the Animal Welfare Program in 2002, and has been a NSERC Industrial Research Chair holder since 2008. Her research focuses on the scientific assessment of animal welfare, with a special focus on individual differences, early detection of illness, milk fed calves and housing. She works tirelessly as an educator on farm animal care, and the impact of her research can now be seen on farms around the world.
Faculty of Land and Food Systems
The University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia
Email: marina.vonkeyserlingk@ubc.ca
Website:
https://awp.landfood.ubc.ca/