students
Sonia Ares
Born in Northern Spain, in a rural area surrounded by small dairy farms, Sonia’s interest in dairy production began when she was young and increasingly grew ever since. She graduated as a veterinarian in 2003 from the University of Santiago de Compostela, and worked as a veterinarian practitioner in her own team for nearly ten years, visiting farms in Spain and Portugal. In 2009 Sonia moved to Madison in order to start a Master’s program with Dr Reinemann in milking machines. She is enjoying her research in liners performance.
Jose Fernando Guarin Montoya
Born in Medellin, Colombia, Jose graduated from the Universidad de Antioquia studying animal science. His pursuance of a Master’s degree led him to Brazil where he attended the Universidade de São Paulo and researched pasture management. Now, in his first year of his PhD at UW-Madison, Jose is working on his research proposal related to the use of automation in dairy farm health and productivity.
Leane Oliveira
From São Paulo, Brazil, Leane received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from São Paulo State University where she helped small dairy farms improve their profitability. During this time, Leane realized the importance of milk quality. After meeting Dr. Ruegg in Brazil, she applied for an internship at the University of Wisconsin and stayed to earn her MS degree in Dairy Science. Currently, she is pursuing her PhD at the University researching factors that affect clinical mastitis and treatment outcome.
Meghan Brockmeyer
Originally from Whitewater, WI, Meghan received her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. This fall semester marked the beginning of her Master’s candidacy here at UW-Madison, where she will be developing indicators of animal well-being on organic and conventional dairies. Meghan grew up on a small dairy farm and has been part of the dairy industry ever since. She looks forward to continuing her education and advancing research in the field.
Maria-Jose Fuenzalida
A Chilean native, Maria-Jose received her DVM from the Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia-Chile in 2009. While studying veterinary medicine, she was struck by how little research described the relationship between mastitis and reproduction performance in dairy cows. Now, as a Master’s student at UW-Madison, she is filling in this gap. Her research project aims to identify the impact of mastitis on fertility and pregnancy loss in lactating dairy cows.
Rob Rowbotham
Born and raised on the family dairy genetics farm, Rob has been involved in the Wisconsin dairy industry all his life. He earned both his bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in dairy science at UW-Madison focusing on business and dairy cattle breeding. His academic achievements led him to a career at Grande Cheese Company in Brownsville, Wisconsin where he is currently the Innovation Manager and Business Partner Advocate. Here again at the University, Rob is pursuing his PhD in the Dairy Science Department while earning a minor in Agricultural and Applied Economics.
Aine Connell
Aine O’Connell recently started her Ph.D with Teagasc and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is investigating farm factors that influence bacterial transfer in bulk tank milk. Originally from Ireland, Aine completed her undergraduate in biological sciences with education at the University of Limerick. Having grown up on a dairy farm she is very interested in the dairy industry and its future in Ireland. Ireland is currently undergoing expansion in the dairy industry due to the forthcoming collapse of milk quotas in 2015. Maintaining high milk quality will be very important to maintain and establish foreign markets for the rise in milk production. Currently Ireland exports 80% of its dairy products.
staff
Tonia Peters
Lab Manager, Department of Dairy Science
Peter Ladell
Lab Manager, Department of Dairy Science
Nikki Lennart
Outreach Specialist, Department of Dairy Science