ASSOCIATE, POST-DOCTORAL, AND VISITING RESEARCHERS
Associate and Post-Doctoral Researchers || Visiting Researchers
ASSOCIATE AND POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCHERS
Nuria Chapinal
Núria Chapinal - Postdoctoral Researcher
Núria Chapinal studied Veterinarian Science at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, where she also completed her Masters and Ph.D. focusing on the welfare of pregnant sows. She spent a summer in Agassiz as a Ph.D. student and was fascinated by the facilities and the people working at the Animal Welfare Program. She finally joined the program in November 2006 as a Postdoctoral fellow.
Her current research is focused on lameness in dairy cattle. One of her primary interests is to find methods for the early detection of lameness that are feasible on farms in terms of time, cost and training. Besides improving the existing subjective detection methods, she is engaged in validating top-notch automated methods that would drastically reduce the time invested in lameness detection. Moreover, these methods could also be a great research tool to better understand cows' locomotion and their weight distribution between limbs. This information would provide knowledge on cows' requirements that need to be considered when designing facilities and planning management. The ultimate goal is prevention. One of her latest experiments has assessed the effect of overnight pasture management on lameness prevention in the early stages of lactation.
Recent Publications
Weight distribution and gait in dairy cattle are affected by milking and late pregnancy Chapinal, N., A. M. de Passillé, and J. Rushen J Dairy Sci, Feb 2009; 92: 581 - 588
Conference Proceedings
- N.Chapinal, A. Barrientos , C. Goldhawk, A.M. de Passille, M.A.G. von Keyserlingk D.M. Weary, J.Rushen. Does overnight access to pasture improve hoof health of dairy cows?. 42nd Congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology, Dublin, Ireland, 2008 (poster)
- N.Chapinal , de Passille, A.M, Rushen, J. Automated detection of lameness in dairy through measures of weight distribution. 15th International Symposium & 7th Conference on Lameness in Ruminants, Kuopio, Finland, 2008 (oral presentation, awarded prize for the best oral presentation of the day)
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VISITING RESEARCHERS
2007 || 2006 || 2005 || 2004 || 2003
2007
Florian Bernardi is a M.Sc. student at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna, Austria. His research focuses on cow comfort and lameness.
Dr. Jose Fregonesi is a visiting researcher from Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL), Brazil. He has several of his Brazillian students with him conducting research at the UBC Dairy Centre in Agassiz.
Mario Jose Giannasi Scala is a graduate student from the Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL) in Brazil. His work is focused on transition cow welfare.
Andressa Amorim de Oliveira is a graduate student from Curitiba, Brazil. Her work is focused on transition cow welfare.
Yukiko Shima is a veterinarian from Nihon University, Japan who is working on a project related to dairy welfare at the UBC Dairy Centre in Agassiz.
Brigid Sweeney is a M.Sc. student at the University of Edinburgh. She is currently conducting her thesis research on weaning in dairy calves at the UBC Dairy Centre in Agassiz..
Roberta Viggiani is a visiting researcher from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Bologna University, Italy. She is currently assessing physiological means (particularly cortisol) of measuring welfare.
Amelie Legrand is a visiting researcher from the National Institute of Advanced Agronomy (FNESAD) in France. She is working on dairy cattle at the UBC Dairy Centre in Agassiz.
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2006
Guilherme Bond, a graduate student from Curitiba, Brazil who conducted research at the UBC Dairy Centre in Agassiz
Ali Hosseinkhani, a visiting PhD student from the Animal Science Department of the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran who conducting research at the UBC Dairy Centre in Agassiz.
Wiolene Nordi, a graduate student from Curitiba, Brazil who conducted research at the UBC Dairy Centre in Agassiz
Larissa Parazzi, a graduate student from Londrina, Brazil conducted research at the UBC Dairy Centre in Agassiz
Dr. Ed Pajor, a visiting researcher from Purdue University. He spent his sabbatical year with the AWP.
Wiebe Veenstra, a Masters student from the Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences Netherlands who conducted research at the UBC Dairy Centre in Agassiz.
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2005
Dr. Jalal Bakhtiari, a Visiting Professor from the University of Tehran, Iran joined the program to work on the assessment and prevention of post-surgical pain in laboratory animals. As an Associate Professor of veterinary surgery, Jalal brought to this project his expert knowledge and techniques for the surgical components and the post-surgical care of animals.
Tomasz Grudnik, a visiting scientist from the Agricultural University of Wroclaw in Poland, worked on a research project investigating the identification of lameness in dairy cattle.
Dr. Andrzej Lozicki, a visiting scientist from the Warsaw Agricultural University (SGGW) in Poland, worked on a research project investigating the how free stall design influences dairy cow comfort.
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2004
Dr. Omar Hernandez Mendo, Associate Professor at Colegio de Postgraduados in Montecillos, Mexico, joined the program on a sabbatical leave to study how access to pasture helps dairy cows recover from lameness.
Allison Stewart worked as a research assistant and assisted in various research projects at the Dairy Centre.
Lorna Baird was employed as a research associate with the Program and assisted with a variety of research projects at the Dairy Centre.
Marcela Vankova, a visiting student from the Czech Republic, worked on a research project investigating the effect of using automated brushes as environmental enrichment for dairy cows.
Paul-Antoine Valias, a visiting student from France, worked as a research assistant on a project evaluating the effect of feed barrier design and stocking densities on feeding and social behaviour of dairy cows.
Sabine Dippel, a researcher visiting from Germany, worked on a research project investigating the development of lameness in dairy cattle.
Dr. Monica Budzynska, a visiting scientist from the Polish Agricultural University in Lublin, worked on a study that investigated ways to minimize dairy calf distress during weaning.
Dr. Reza Valizadeh, an Associate Professor at the University of Mashad in Iran, joined the program for a six-month sabbatical to investigate methods to reduce distress in dairy cattle at the end of lactation.
Keelin O'Driscoll, a visiting M.Sc. student from Edinburgh University, worked on a research project investigating the feeding and social behaviour of calves feeding and drinking from an automated feeder.
Sarah Maidaa, a visiting M.Sc. student from Edinburgh University, worked on a research project investigating calf weaning and minimizing distress.
Elizabeth Carter, a visiting M.Sc. student from Edinburgh University, worked on a research project investigating using analgesics to modify the gait of dairy cows.
Dineke van den Hazel: Dineke is an M.Sc. student in Animal Science from Holland. She worked on a project involving the effects of feeding frequency on dairy cow behavior.
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2003
Fernando Wolf: Fernando is a graduate student visiting from the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Brazil. He completed a research project investigating improved feeding systems for dairy calves.
Jose Fregonisi: Lecturer from the University of Londrina, Brazil. Jose worked on effects of stocking density on dairy cattle in Agassiz.
Marek Gaworsk: Lecturer from the University of Warsaw, Poland. Marek worked on a research project investigating the effects of stall maintenance on cow comfort at Agassiz.
Marek Spinka: A senior researcher from the Research Institute of Animal Production, Prague, Czech Republic. Marek carried out a research project investigating the relationship between asymmetry and lameness in dairy cattle.
Raymond Anthony: Ph.D. candidate from Malaysia by way of Purdue University completed a dissertation in philosophy titled, “Animals and Their Moral Standing: A Philosophical Exploration of the Relationship between Animals and Human Beings in Agriculture”.
Luisa Brusius: Graduate student visiting from the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Luisa worked on the effect of teat competition on calf feeding behaviour.
Daniela Cristina da Silva: Final year veterinary student from Londrina University Brazil. She joined the program for three months to participate in research at the UBC Dairy Research Centre in Agassiz .
Jin Suk Kim: Faculty member from Konkuk University, The Republic of Korea, is a toxicologist interested in animal welfare concerns facing farm and companion animals. Jin is presently writing a book on animal welfare issues in Asia .
Luiz Carlos Pinheiro Machado Filho: Faculty member from the Department of Zootechny and Rural Development, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil. He joined UBC's Animal Welfare Program for a sabbatical year. He is an agronomist who researched the effects of increased pasture use on the behaviour and welfare of dairy cows.
Andreia Vieira: Final year veterinary student from Londrina University, Brazil. She joined the program for three months to participate in research at the UBC.
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