Professor Dave Roberts (Chair of Trustees)

Studied Agriculture at Reading University, followed by a PhD at Wye College. On leaving University Dave joined the East of Scotland Agricultural College and moved to Dumfries in 1982, subsequently as Head of The Dairy Research and Innovation Centre (Crichton Royal Farm) and then Head of Agriculture and Business Management Dept. at SRUC retiring in 2021. Dave has focussed on systems research , knowledge transfer and training both within the UK and in sub-Saharan Africa. He is currently Scotland Chair of Lantra, a member of the Scottish Dairy Growth Board and a member of Borders College Board. Dave is a Nuffield Farming Scholar; he is a Fellow of the Institute of Agricultural Management and of the Royal Agricultural Societies.

Sarah Simpson

Sarah Simpson is a director of a dairy farm near Newton Stewart, Dumfries & Galloway. Sarah helped co-write the Dairy Sector Climate Change Report for the Scottish Government, and sits on the Government’s Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board. She was previously Head of Policy for the NFU Scotland and past Chair of the Milk Forum, a representative body of dairy processors and farmers in Scotland. Sarah also provides consultancy services, running a dairy financial and performance benchmarking group.

Nicholas Jonsson

Nicholas Jonsson is Professor of Animal Health and Production in the School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, at the University of Glasgow. He graduated as a veterinary surgeon from the University of Sydney, Australia, in 1987 and worked as a mixed veterinary practitioner in rural New South Wales for 7 years, including a period as practice owner. In 1995 he commenced a PhD in bovine reproduction at the University of Queensland, and he was subsequently employed by the Queensland Government as a researcher in dairy science, before taking academic positions at the University of Glasgow and then again University of Queensland. He returned to Glasgow in 2009, where he assumed his current role as Professor of Animal Health and Production. Professor Jonsson is the Director of Innovation, Engagement and Enterprise for the School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, and his teaching, consultancy and research interests are in animal management, with emphasis on systems for efficient cattle production. The main strands of his research are ruminant gut function and pathology, the use of sensor technologies to optimize ruminant health and production, the genetics of adaptation in cattle, and sustainable strategies for parasite management.

Bruce Mackie

Bruce Mackie farms in North East Aberdeenshire on a mixed farm of some 500 acres with wheat and barley crops in addition to the dairy.  The 250 cow pedigree herd, which is made up of Holstein Friesian and some Jersey and Norwegian Red cows, produce more than 2 million litres of milk each year. There is a focus to improve the genetics of the herd by use of the latest genomic selection methods. The milk is processed into high quality yogurt.

Professor Elisabeth A Innes MBE, FRSE, FRSB, FRSA, ARAgS

Lee has conducted research in the area of infectious diseases of livestock at several different research institutes in UK and Africa and currently leads a group at Moredun Research Institute in Edinburgh, looking at developing solutions to control diseases caused by protozoan parasites. Following a sabbatical year spent in Hong Kong where she studied journalism and photography she took up a new position as Director of Communications at Moredun in 2008, although still retaining her research interests. Lee was awarded an MBE in the New Years Honours in 2015 for services to scientific research and science communication and also holds Honorary Professorships from Heriot Watt University, University of Edinburgh and University of Glasgow. She received an award for outstanding contribution to Knowledge Exchange at the Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards in 2017, was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2017 and an Associate of the Royal Agricultural Societies in 2019.  She is passionate about science communication and public engagement and improving the health and welfare of livestock through research and education.

Ali Haggerty

Ali graduated from Glasgow Vet School in 2010 and has worked at The Stewartry Veterinary Centre, in Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway, ever since. She returned to Glasgow in 2019 to complete a research Masters in Failure of Passive Transfer and Colostrum Quality in Scottish dairy calves. She now balances her time between clinical practice, research collaborations centering around colostrum and youngstock health, as well as other freelance consultancy projects for industry bodies, pharmaceutical companies, and other firms.