Invited Speakers

Jimena Laporta is an Associate Professor of Lactation physiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences. She holds a Ph.D. in Dairy Science from UW-Madison (2014) and was on the faculty at the University of Florida before returning to Madison in 2020. Her research focuses on how environmental and nutritional factors influence mammary gland development, lactation, and long-term performance in dairy cattle, with an emphasis on perinatal programming, epigenetics, and early-life interventions in dairy calves for heat stress resilience.

Dr. Ermias Kebreab is Associate Dean at the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of California, Davis. He holds the Sesnon Endowed Professorship in Sustainable Animal Agriculture. A global leader in climate-smart livestock systems, he has worked in more than 25 countries to advance sustainable agriculture through research, policy, and capacity building. He contributed to the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines on enteric methane emissions, chaired two expert committees for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and currently serves on the U.S. National Academies’ Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources. His pioneering research on livestock methane mitigation has shaped global policy and practice, earning recognition as a 2025 World Food Prize Top Agri-Food Pioneer and one of Business Insider’s Top 30 Global Climate Leaders.

Chris developed and led Equine Orthopaedic research at the University of Melbourne Equine Centre a multidisciplinary research program combining microstructural analysis, histopathology, biomechanics, epidemiology and mathematical modelling, dedicated to developing preventative training and management protocols for racehorses. He has published over 90 peer reviewed papers and contributed to 16 book chapters.

Chris trained as a specialist equine surgeon at the University of Sydney, Australia, gaining Fellowship of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists in Equine Surgery by examination in 1995. He also completed a PhD at the University of Sydney in 1998. He has worked at The University of Melbourne since 2004.