Speaker updates coming soon! Come back frequently to find out more.
Dr. Marina (Nina) von Keyserlingk is a Professor and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Chair in Animal Welfare at The University of British Columbia. Her interdisciplinary approach to research has focused on identifying measures and ways of improving the lives of animals under our care. She is also among the first in her field to combine experimental and qualitative methods when addressing animal welfare issues. She has received numerous awards, including the 2018 Hans Sigrist Foundation (Bern Switzerland), for her outstanding achievements as an international leader working in the field of sustainable food animal production and the 2022 Killam Research Award for outstanding contributions to Research in the Sciences, Medicine and Applied Science . She has published over 350 peer reviewed scientific papers and is frequent and enthusiastic speaker for academic and professional audiences both nationally and internationally.
After graduating from the University of Alberta with a degree in Microbiology, Kelly Mauthe began his career at the provincial milk testing lab, steadily assuming greater responsibilities until he became the deputy quality manager. In 2006, he transitioned to the role of milk quality specialist with Alberta Milk. Leveraging his practical experience in lab testing, Kelly has been at the forefront of designing and implementing innovative data gathering techniques, such as handheld devices, barcoding, and GPS integration. These advancements have been adopted in the Western Milk Pool, leading to improved efficiency. As the individual responsible for all milk quality policies, sample testing programs, and milk measurement in Alberta, Kelly oversees quality penalties, the monthly quality bonus program, and yearly quality awards. Additionally, he is a member of the proAction Food Safety Technical Committee. In 2023, the Western Pool Milk Quality program underwent a significant transformation, evolving into the Progressive Penalty Program (PPP), where every load contributes to farm quality standards. Kelly will share Alberta's experiences with this new approach.
Kristin Benke joined Dairy Farmers of Ontario in 2008 and has worked in a variety of areas of the organization during her time with DFO. She was promoted to the position of Chief Business Officer at Dairy Farmers of Ontario in December 2021, and is currently responsible for economics and policy, quota, and billing and payment. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree at Queen’s University in Economics and has a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Guelph.
Pierre-Alain Blais has been a bilingual customer representative and workshop facilitator for 6 years for the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA). Among his duties in Eastern Ontario, he assists producers with cost-shared funding programs offered by OSCIA and facilitates training workshops offered by the Association in both official languages. These workshops include the Environmental Farm Plan - which a large majority of dairy producers have participated in with Pierre-Alain over the past few years - as well as webinars on livestock biosecurity, delivered by a qualified veterinarian.
Norma Banford is a Client Services Representative with the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association. She delivers workshops and works individually with clients to assist in sharing learning opportunities for cost share programs in Eastern Ontario. She presents to local organizations and associations on cost share opportunities and is looking for-ward to discussing these programs with us. The value of these programs resonates with her personally as her roots are in the dairy world as her family growing up had a large registered dairy herd. After a federal government career she returned to the farming community for her retirement.
Craig is no stranger to the dairy industry from his involvement in his family farm, Yorellea Farms in St. Eugene, ON. Following his passion in his educational studies, Craig attended the University of Guelph obtaining his BSc in Agriculture majoring in Animal Science and has alsocompleted his Masters of Science in Population Medicine at the Ontario Veterinary College with a focus on validating accuracy of activity monitors.