Webinar Speakers

Speakers from both the University of Nottingham and Trouw Nutrition will cover the topics in our series of webinars.

Dr Leonel Leal - Team Lead - Calf and Heifer Research - Trouw Nutrition Research & Development

Leonel Neto Leal was born on April 18, 1986 and grew up in Paços de Ferreira, Portugal. He obtained his high school diploma from Escola Secundária D. Dinis of Santo Tirso in 2005, after which he started his BSc in Zootechnical Engineering at the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), Vila Real, Portugal.

After his graduation in 2008, he started his MSc in Zootechnical Engineering at the same University. His major specialization was animal production and nutrition, and for his major thesis, he investigated the effect of high planes of milk replacer feeding on growth performance and general health status of rearing calves at the Ruminant Research Centre of Nutreco in Boxmeer, the Netherlands.

In January 2011, after obtaining his MSc, Leonel joined Nutreco as a ruminant researcher. In 2019, he obtained his PhD in Animal Nutrition at Wageningen University & Research (Wageningen, the Netherlands), focusing on improving meat colour and oxidative stability of lamb meat by dietary antioxidant supplementation.

Apart from his PhD appointment, for the past 8 years, Leonel has been focusing as well on functional nutrition of calves, where he has been leading the LifeStart science platform within Nutreco R&D. His curriculum vitae include scientific and technical publications, co-supervisions of master and PhD students, participations in scientific and professional international conferences.

Georgina Thomas - Young Animal Feed Manager, Trouw Nutrition GB

In 2009 Georgina graduated from the University of Nottingham with a BSc (Hons) in Animal Science before entering the feed industry to work as a ruminant nutritionist. Today Georgina is the Young Animal Feed Manager for the GB business as well as being a member of the Global Ruminant Innovation Team for Trouw Nutrition.

Georgina has developed a passion for early life nutrition with a focus on the development and formulation of milk replacers for young calves as well as recommended feeding curves and practical feeding strategies.

Dr Laura Tennant - Young Animal Feed Technical Advisor, Trouw Nutrition GB

Dr Laura Tennant graduated with a PhD in ruminant nutrition from the University of Nottingham in 2017. Following this Laura was Head of Youngstock at the Centre for Dairy Science Innovation at the University of Nottingham for 2.5 years, this role provided a solid foundation understanding of the complexities of practical calf rearing whilst allowing exposure to the latest research technologies covering a wide range of calf topics.

In 2019 Laura joined Trouw Nutrition GB providing practical and applicable advice as the Young Animal Feed Technical Advisor. Laura is passionate about hydration in young calves

Dr Ginny Sherwin MA VetMB MVM DipECBHM PhD MRCVS (European Specialist in Bovine Health Management)

Ginny graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2011 and completed a farm animal internship at the Royal Veterinary College. She then went into private practice, prior to undertaking a dairy herd health residency at the University of Nottingham. She passed her ECBHM exams in 2017, to become a European Specialist in Bovine Health Management.

She completed a PhD investigating the ecology of Streptococcus uberis in 2020, whilst starting a lecturing role in 2018. She is currently a Clinical Assistant Professor in Farm Animal Medicine at the University of Nottingham. Her main research interests surround the implementation of practical solutions to improve youngstock health and performance.

Emily Payne BVMedSci BVM BVS CertAVP MRCVS (Advanced Practitioner)

Emily graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2013 and went into private farm animal practice in Shropshire and then Derbyshire. She undertook her certificate in cattle, to become an Advanced Practitioner. This helped to fuel her desire to learn more and lead to her return to the University of Nottingham in 2018.

Emily undertook the residency programme in dairy herd health and production and is now a candidate for examination of the European Diploma. She is currently a lecturer at the University of Nottingham, where her interest lies in calf health and veterinary education.

Dr Peter Down BVSc PhD DipECBHM MRCVS (European Specialist in Bovine Health Management)

Pete Down graduated from University of Bristol in 2004 and went in private farm animal practice. In 2010, Pete started a farm animal residency at the University of Nottingham, passing his ECBHM exams in 2013 to become a European Specialist in Bovine Health Management. He completed a PhD investigating decision making around mastitis control in dairy cows at the University of Nottingham in 2016.

Pete is currently an Associate Professor in Farm Animal Population Health at the University of Nottingham. Pete has recently led a research project around investigating calf health on UK farms, focusing on how decisions are made and the impact these have on calf health, alongside the implementation of an on farm calf health herd plan.

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