Joining in on the Data & Food animal welfare topic in this Episode are Dr. Jennifer Walker, Director of Milk Quality and cow care champion at Danone NA, Dr. Jim Reynolds, Professor of Large Animal Medicine/Welfare at Western University, College of Veterinary Medicine, and Daniel Foy, Co-Founder & CEO of AgriGates.
Dr. Jen graduated in 2000 from UC Davis and spent 4 years in private practice on California dairies before earning her Ph.D. at Ohio State (2010). Realizing that the greatest opportunity to drive meaningful improvement in animal welfare was through the supply chain, Dr. Jen made the leap from the barnyard to the board room and joined Dean Foods leading the development of their animal welfare program as Director of Dairy Stewardship. Dr. Jen joined Danone North America as Director of Milk quality in 2018 and is now responsible for managing milk quality from farm to factory gate as well as the development and management of Danone North America’s industry-leading animal welfare program, Quality and Care. Dr. Jen also completed her Master’s in Animal Welfare Ethics, Policy, and Law through the University of Edinburgh (2018). In 2019 Dr. Jen’s efforts, passion, and results in shaping national best practices in dairy animal welfare were recognized by her alma mater, UC Davis, as one of the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Award of Distinction recipients.
Dr. Reynolds’ (Jim to most) history in dairy goes all the way back to being raised on his family’s dairy in San Diego, CA. Jim graduated as a veterinarian from UC Davis in 1982 and went into private dairy and beef practice in California for 14 years. He then went on to complete a residency program in public health with the California Department of Health Services. This led him back into academia, where he was the Chief of Clinical Services for Production Medicine at UC Davis for 12 years. Today, Jim is a Professor of Large Animal Medicine/Welfare at Western University, College of Veterinary Medicine in Pomona, CA.
Jim has had a number of accolades, including serving as chair of both the American Veterinary Medical Association & the American Association of Bovine Practitioners Animal Welfare Committees. He is currently a member of the California Veterinary Medical Association Animal Welfare Committee. A founding board member of the Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization (PAACO). A member of the scientific committees for Validus, the American Humane Society and conducts welfare assessments and audits for Validus, LLC. Has been course leader for the American Association of Bovine Practitioners’ pre-convention seminar on Cattle Welfare. He is the Chair of the Consumer Affairs Committee for the Dairy Cattle Welfare Council. Jim also received the AVMA Animal Welfare Award for 2007, the American Association of Bovine Veterinarians Award of Excellence for 2010 and is a Diplomate of the American College of Animal Welfare (ACAW). Jim is also a Director at AgriGates and has an interest in Data and livestock welfare.