Prof. Linky Makgahlela obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Limpopo and holds a PhD in animal breeding and genetics from the University of Helsinki in Finland...

She joined the ARC-Animal Production Institute in 2007 as a researcher responsible for genetic evaluation of female fertility in South African dairy cattle. Prof. Makgahlela worked as a visiting scientist at Iowa State University in the Centre for Integrated Animal Genomics from 2008–2009, receiving training on theapplication of genomic technologies in livestock improvement programmes under the supervision of Professor Emeritus of Animal Science, Max Rothschild. In 2010, she was awarded a scholarship by the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture to pursue a doctoral degree in Finland and worked as a researcher for MTT AgriFood Research Finland (currently Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE)) as part of that degree. She returned to the ARC-Animal Production as a senior researcher in animal breeding and genetics was appointed a research manager for this research programme in 2016, where she is responsible for a set of cross-cutting research areas including conservation and utilisation of indigenous animal genetic resources, development of new/novel and efficiency traits, genomic technologies and integration to enhance the quantity and quality of animal food products in commercial and smallholder sectors, improvement of physiology and reproduction efficiency, and climate-smart livestock production to mitigate the effects of climate change. The mission of these research areas being to build a genetic understanding of the animal genetic resources of South Africa and integrate breeding and reproductive technologies into systems for improved climate-smart production in the livestock industry and conservation of animal biodiversity. Prof. Makgahlela is an affiliated associated professor from the University of the Free State and rated by the National Research Foundation (NRF). She has graduated a number of postgraduate students, published 25 peer-reviewed articles in local and international journals, 18 non-peer reviewed articles and industry reports, and delivered 37 oral and poster presentations in local and international conferences.

Prof. Edward Webb is a Professor of production animal physiology, functional anatomy, and meat science in the Department of Animal Science at the University of Pretoria, having previously served as deputy dean in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences and as head of the Department of Animal Science in the same faculty

He obtained the degrees BSc(Agric), BSc(Agric)(Hons) cum laude, MSc(Agric) cum laude, and PhD from the University of Pretoria (UP), and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Ghent in Belgium and Nutrico in The Netherlands. Some of his outstanding academic achievements include the Standard Bank of South Africa merit award, National Research Foundation (NRF) merit awards, SASAS merit award, the SASAS bronze medal for his PhD thesis, AM Bosman gold medal and a Fellowship from the Flemish Ministry in Belgium. Prof. Webb’s teaching and research focus on the effects of dietary factors and exogenous growth molecules on animal growth, adaptation, reproduction, and carcass and meat quality. The research focus is specifically on ways to improve the efficiency of animal production in resource- constrained environments and in an ethical and environmentally acceptable way. He has published 130 peer-reviewed scientific papers, presented 134 papers at conferences or symposia, 30 technical reports, co-edited two books, contributed 17 book chapters, 33 popular scientific papers, and one patent. He is a registered professional animal scientist and served as vice-president (2004–2008) and president (2009–2014) of the South African Society for Animal Science (SASAS).

Dr Francois van de Vyver is currently the national technical manager at Voermol Feeds. He has been involved in the animal feed industry for the past decade as ruminant nutritionist, prior to which he was employed by the University of Stellenbosch as a lecturer in animal nutrition in the Department of Animal Sciences. 

In addition to his employment within the industry, he is also heavily involved with the wider animal feed industry and serves as Chairperson for the Technical Committee of Animal Feed Manufacturers Association (AFMA), as well as member of the Board of Directors for AFMA. He acquired his doctorate degree at Stellenbosch University in 2011 after earning both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Pretoria.

Before retirement, Dr Heinz Meissner was associated with the University of Pretoria as a Professor in animal nutrition and later as director of the ARC’s Animal Nutrition and Products Institute at Irene, where he managed the interface between animal production, product development and consumer science.

He is also an Extraordinary Professor at the Onderstepoort Faculty of Veterinary Science. Since retirement, he is consulting for Agri SA, the red meat industry and primarily also the dairy industry where he manages the R & D initiative of Milk SA. Apart from animal nutrition and management, he has vast experience in environmental issues and represents South Africa on the Scientific Committee for the Environment of the International Dairy Federation. One of his contributions in this regard is the argument that more emphasis should be put on carbon sequestration to limit the agricultural carbon footprint. Dr Meissner has published more than 200 scientific publications and has received a number of recognitions, among others the Gold Medal from the South African Society for Animal Science, the Agricultural Writers Association’s award for Agricultural Scientist of the Year, and the Person of the Year Award from the Animal Feed Manufacturers Association.

Before serving as the vice-President of the South African Society for Animal Science (SASAS) and subeditor of the South African Journal of Animal Science, Dr Trevor Dugmore was the scientific manager for animal science research in the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, specialising in dairy and ruminant nutrition.

He has served as a member of the Milk SA Research & Development Advisory Committee, a reviewer for the National Research Foundation (NRF), and is a trustee/board member of the Mdukatshani Rural Development Trust in KwaZulu-Natal. He is also an external examiner for numerous postgraduate theses at the University of KZN, Stellenbosch University, University of the Free State, and University of Pretoria. Dr Dugmore has spoken at over 150 farmers’ days throughout Southern Africa, presented 19 scientific papers at scientific congresses and 15 at symposia, authored and co-authored 17 peer-reviewed papers in scientific journals, eight in scientific proceedings, and 26 popular papers.

Dr Michael MacNeil received his bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Cornell University, master’s degree in animal science from Montana State University, and PhD in animal breeding and genetics from South Dakota State University in the United States (US).

During his career he worked at the US Meat Animal Research Center as a statistician and research animal scientist in the production systems unit, and the Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory, where he served as research geneticist and led the Line 1 Hereford breeding programme. After retiring from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service in December 2011, he founded Delta G to continue working in quantitative genetics, statistics, and systems analysis with breed associations, private industry, and government research organisations, both domestically and internationally. He is the author or co-author of more than 175 articles appearing in refereed scientific literature and this work has been cited more than 4 200 times. Dr MacNeil has been awarded the Continuing Service and Pioneer Awards by the Beef Improvement Federation and the Rockefeller-Prentice Animal Breeding Award by the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS). He was named a Distinguished Alumnus of South Dakota State University for his outstanding professional achievements in 2010 and an honorary member of the South African Society for Animal Science (SASAS) in 2012. In 2017, he was named a Research Fellow of the ASAS.