Emerging Scientists 2025
The Dairy Research Foundation is proud to showcase the research and talent of Australia’s emerging dairy scientists at the 2025 Symposium, with the Gardiner Foundation Emerging Scientist Competition highlighting the next generation of innovation. In a slight change to the usual schedule, the presentations will take place over two sessions on Day One at the WIN Sports & Entertainment Centre. Each scientist will have five minutes to present their work followed by time for questions and discussion.
The aim of this session is to provide valuable professional development opportunities for our emerging scientists. Presented in a friendly competition format, audience members are invited to evaluate each presentation for its quality, relevance and interest. These scores are combined to determine the overall winner, announced at the Norco Symposium Dinner.
The Dairy Research Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support of The Gardiner Foundation, proud sponsor of the Emerging Scientist Competition. We encourage everyone to get involved and show support for the next generation of dairy science leaders.
The Emerging Scientist Competition is proudly sponsored by
Zain UI Abedien
Zain is a PhD candidate at the University of Technology Sydney. His research focuses on applying metagenomic and metatranscriptomic approaches to investigate the bacterial, viral, and parasitic communities of dairy calves, with an emphasis on understanding microbial diversity, resistance genes, and virulence factors across different age groups. His long-term goal is to improve understanding of infectious disease dynamics in cattle and to support the development of innovative diagnostic strategies for enhanced animal health and productivity.
Title: Cracking the Code of Calf Health: Insights from Enteric Microbes
Blessing Azubuike
Blessing Azubuike is a PhD candidate specialising in sensor and data analytics for grazing and feeding management in pasture-based dairy systems. Her research combines machine learning, remote sensing and optimisation to improve pasture-cover estimation and feed-allocation strategies for sustainable dairy systems.
Title: Smarter Grazing with Satellites: Machine Learning and Interpolation for Accurate Pasture Biomass Estimates
Sarah Bird
Sarah Bird is a PhD student at Massey University, New Zealand. Her research seeks to determine how to select dairy cows suitable for extended lactations in a grazing system using mathematical models and machine learning. After completing a Master of Applied Data Science in 2024, Sarah is interested in applying data driven methods to agricultural applications, with previous work on wearable technology impacts on reproductive performance of dairy cows and cow-level factors influencing extended lactation curves, yields and persistency. She aims to contribute research towards a sustainable dairy system future in pasture-based dairy industries.
Title: Extended lactations: Fewer calves, different lactation curves.
Nicholas Goh
Nick is a practicing livestock veterinarian at Livestock Veterinary Services, University of Sydney. On top of providing a veterinary clinical service to farmers and teaching veterinary students, his recent research focuses on calf health and production. With experience in both clinical practice and research, he aims to combine practical herd management with epidemiological approaches to improve livestock welfare and productivity. He has particular interests in intensive dairying, calf health and reproduction.
Title: Effects of calf diarrhoea on survival, health and production in dairy cows
Dini Hapukotuwa
Dini graduated from the University of Sydney and worked in mixed practice across Oberon, Kyabram and the United Kingdom before returning to Australia to take up a residency in dairy cattle medicine. Dini is very passionate about dairy cattle and has a special interest in calf medicine and rearing, which is what she has based her masters research on. After completing her membership exams in Dairy Cattle Medicine in 2023, she now has her sights on sitting her fellowship exams soon.
Title: Cracking the Colostrum Code: How much IgG is enough to feed our calves?
Anastasiia Kudriashova
I am a PhD student with the University of Melbourne and Agriculture Victoria Research, supported by the DairyBio and the ATSE Women in STEM Scholarship. Originally trained as a veterinarian in Russia, I have worked on Australian dairy farms since 2011, gaining first-hand experience with the challenges of calving and transition cow health. These experiences shaped my passion for improving cow health and longevity, which also strengthens farm profitability. My research uses advanced blood and DNA testing to find markers of cow diseases, with the goal of creating breeding values that help farmers select cows with stronger health and resilience.
Title: Biomarkers for better cow health: Tools for early detection and breeding
Andrew Lean
After graduating as a veterinarian from Charles Sturt University (CSU) in 2015, Andrew worked in dairy-mixed veterinary practices in Northern Victoria and Southern NSW. He has seen firsthand the changes occurring rapidly in the dairy farms in the Southern Riverina, which led him to become a PhD student through CSU and Scibus in 2023. His focus is on understanding and getting the best out of cattle in intensive systems. His studies focus on heifer breeding practices and housing of cattle, especially bedded pack barns.
Title: Measuring and managing bedded pack barns
Sarah Legge
Dr Sarah Wilma Jean Legge is a dairy scientist and educator at the University of Sydney, with expertise in calf management, precision dairy technologies, and animal longevity. Her research focuses on early-life interventions, automated calf feeders, and data-driven approaches to improving welfare, productivity, and sustainability in Australian dairy systems.
Alongside research, Sarah coordinates and teaches across undergraduate units in animal and veterinary bioscience, where she integrates theory with practical, technology-enhanced learning.
Title: Identifying Key Factors Affecting Dairy Cow Longevity
Rezaul Rakib
Rezaul is a PhD candidate at The University of Sydney in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences. He holds a Bachelor in Animal Husbandry and a Masters in Dairy Science from Bangladesh Agricultural University. To further broaden his expertise, he undertook postgraduate training in India and China.
Prior to commencing his PhD, he worked as a Researcher at the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute, Dhaka, where he contributed to projects on animal production and management. His current research focuses on impact of heat stress on dairy cows, with particular emphasis on biomarker development to advance understanding of mechanisms underlying thermotolerance.
Title: Milk speaks when cows are heat-stressed