RESUME
Academic and professional appointments
PROFESSOR / ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR / SENIOR LECTURER / LECTURER
2009-present
Returning to Australia, I took up a permanent academic position at The University of Sydney after the retirement of my mentors Professors Gareth Evans AM and Chis Maxwell AM. Starting in the Faculty of Veterinary Science, after several restructures I am now located within the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and have progressed from Lecturer (2009) to Senior Lecturer (2012) to Associate Professor (2016) and now Professor (2022).
I am a teaching and research academic, which means I split my time between these two activities. I teach general science, agriculture, animal science and veterinary medicine students in everything from basic reproductive biology (how sperm are made, what reproductive hormones do) through to clinical theriogenology (laparoscopic AI, breeding soundness evaluations, reproductive ultrasound). I lead a research group of postdoctoral fellows, graduate and undergraduate research students to develop reproductive technologies such as artificial insemination, sperm sexing and semen freezing for production animals (mainly sheep) and wildlife. At its most basic level, this means studying how sperm function, interact with the female reproductive tract and ultimately what makes them fertile. My research helps accelerate genetic progress and production efficiency in animal agriculture, while also helping to save endangered wildlife through captive breeding programs.
LECTURER IN VETERINARY BASIC SCIENCES
2007-2008
Based at The Royal Veterinary College in London, I taught veterinary medicine and animal science students about the basics of male reproductive biology and artificial breeding.
SECRETARY GENERAL OF ICAR
2016-present
The International Congress on Animal Reproduction (ICAR) is a major conference held every 4 years in various countries around the world.
The theme of the conference is animal reproduction, namly animal physiology, animal pathology and reproductive technology. Each conference attracts plenary and symposium papers, other contributed papers, workshops, and trade exhibitions.
The Secretary General of ICAR is responsible for the management and communications of the executive committee and congress.
VICE PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF AAAA
2010-2020
The Association for Applied Animal Andrology (AAAA) promotes research, discussion and dissemination of information on applied animal andrology. The organisation also holds a conference every two years. I held a position as Executive Director of AAAA from 2010 -2020 and was Vice President from 2016-2018.
VISITING SCIENTIST
2014-2015, 2019
A long term collaborator with Dr Xavier Druart at the Station de Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Nouzilly, France I have held visiting scientist appointments here as we work together to understand the function of proteins in seminal plasma and the movement of sperm through the female reproductive tract.