2025 DCRC Annual Meeting Speakers

Dr. Victor Cabrera

Dr. Victor Cabrera combines applied research, interdisciplinary approaches and participatory methods to deliver practical, data-driven, user-friendly and scientific decision support tools for dairy farm management. These scientific tools are improving dairy farm profitability, environmental stewardship and long-term sustainability. His research and extension programs have made a global impact. Victor has been distinguished with the American Dairy Science Association DeLaval Dairy Extension Award, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Vilas Faculty Mid-Career Investigator Award, the Second Mile Extension award of the Wisconsin Association of County Agricultural Agents, the Pound Extension Award from the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the Distinguished Achievement Award from the University of Florida School of Natural Resources and Environment, the Foundation Scholar Award in Dairy Production from the American Dairy Science Association and the Alfred Toepfer Faculty Fellow Award from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr. Nigel Cook

Dr. Nigel Cook is a professor in the food animal production medicine section of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Veterinary Medicine. He qualified as a veterinarian in 1992 and worked in a large food animal clinic in Southern England for four years before moving to the Royal Veterinary College, Hertfordshire, where he spent three years as lecturer and head of the Large Animal Ambulatory Clinic. Since 1999 he has been in Wisconsin, teaching veterinary students, performing research and developing outreach to improve dairy cattle well-being. His particular interests include lameness prevention, cow comfort and improving facility design. He is currently chair of the department of medical sciences, past president of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners and was awarded the Wisconsin Veterinary Medical Association Veterinarian of the Year in 2019 and the American Association of Bovine Practitioners Award of Excellence in 2021.

Dr. Scott Earnest

Dr. Scott Earnest is director of technical services at ProAGtive Dairy Nutrition. A 2014 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, he has lived in Lodi, Wisconsin, first practicing as a livestock veterinarian and then moving into consulting work focused on dairy farms. Scott supports a team of independent nutrition consultants in the Upper Midwest and is passionate about dairy records, management consulting and employee development.

Dr. Paul Fricke

Dr. Paul Fricke was raised on his family’s row crop and dairy farm located near Papillion, Nebraska, where his father continues to farm today. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in animal science in 1988 from the University of Nebraska, Paul went on to complete a master’s degree in 1992 and a PhD in 1996 in reproductive physiology from the department of animal sciences at North Dakota State University. Paul joined the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1998. His current position includes both research and extension responsibilities in dairy cattle reproduction. Paul’s research program focuses on understanding the biology underlying the many reproductive problems of dairy cattle. The goal of Paul’s extension program is to improve reproductive efficiency of dairy cattle by applying scientific research to develop practical management strategies and assess new reproductive technologies.

Dr. Peter Hansen

Dr. Peter Hansen is a distinguished professor and L.E. “Red” Larson Professor in the department of animal sciences at the University of Florida, where has worked since 1986. Working primarily with cows, his research focuses on the physiology and genetics of early pregnancy, thermal biology and development of methods to improve fertility, enhance assisted reproductive technologies and develop genetic and physiological strategies to reduce the impact of heat stress. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Dairy Science Association and American Society of Animal Science, and Distinguished Fellow of the Society for the Study of Reproduction.

Dr. Stephen LeBlanc

Dr. Stephen LeBlanc is a professor in the department of population medicine at the University of Guelph and director of Dairy at Guelph – The Centre for Dairy Research and Innovation. He received a bachelor’s degree in animal science from McGill University in 1992 and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1997 and DVSc in 2001 from the University of Guelph. His research focuses on dairy cow metabolic and reproductive health and management, precision technologies and antimicrobial stewardship. With graduate students and collaborators, this work has resulted in more than 200 peer-reviewed papers. He also serves as a senior editor for the Journal of Dairy Science.

Dr. Gláucio Lopes

Dr. Gláucio Lopes is a native of Brazil. He received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the Universidade Federal Fluminense in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro. Upon graduation, he practiced in small commercial dairy farms and beef operations as a veterinarian before joining Dr. Ricardo Chebel at the University of California-Davis. In California, Lopes worked in several research studies focused on reproduction of dairy cows and heifers; calf management, growth and feed additives; and dairy production and health in large dairy farms. In 2011, he completed his master’s degree in reproductive physiology from the University of Wisconsin. His research focused on synchronization and resynchronization of ovulation protocols for fixed-time artificial insemination, use of electronic devices for estrous detection and assessment of accuracy of blood tests for pregnancy diagnosis in dairy cattle. Glaucio has worked for Accelerated Genetics, World Wide Sires, SCR Dairy and the URUS Group. Two years ago, he joined the Technology Solutions Team at Merck Animal Health. Glaucio is a past president of the Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council.

Neil Mellers

Neil Mellers is the general manager of Ranch2Retail, where he is helping to transform how beef moves from ranch to retail. With more than 15 years of experience across consumer-packaged goods, analytics and supply chain strategy, Neil has built and scaled ventures that connect producers, brands and retailers in new ways. His career spans leadership at Welch’s, the founding of innovative startups and guiding growth strategies across food and agriculture. Today, Neil brings his expertise in retail, data and partnerships to create a more transparent and resilient food system.

Dr. Chuck Nicholson

Dr. Chuck Nicholson recently returned to Penn State University as a clinical associate professor of supply chain management. Previously, he served as an associate professor in the department of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to joining UW, he worked at three business schools: the Nijmegen School of Management (Netherlands), Cornell University and Penn State University.

Dr. Michael Overton

Dr. Michael Overton received his bachelor’s degree and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from North Carolina State University, and completed a Dairy Production Medicine Residency and Masters of Preventive Veterinary Medicine at the University of California-Davis. During his career, Mike has spent 8 years as a practicing veterinarian, 14 years in academia teaching first at UC-Davis and then at the University of Georgia. For the past 13 years, he has worked in industry, first with Elanco and now with Zoetis. In his current role within the Precision Animal Health unit of Zoetis, his responsibilities focus on the development of a global, cloud-based analytics platform for the creation and delivery of data-based solutions and enhanced customer value. He has worked and taught extensively in the areas of reproduction management, transition management, analysis of on-farm records, heifer management and economic decision-making. Throughout his career, Mike has focused on identifying opportunities to enhance productivity and profitability through advanced data analyses and economic modeling.

Dr. Jennifer Van Os

Dr. Jennifer Van Os is an associate professor and extension specialist in animal welfare in the department of animal and dairy sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The research in her lab focuses on understanding, evaluating and improving the welfare of dairy animals from biological- and social-science perspectives. The goal of Jennifer’s extension program is to promote best practices in management and housing to help the dairy industry adapt as our scientific knowledge about animal welfare continues to grow.

Dr. Aurora Villarroel

Dr. Aurora Villarroel grew up on a small dairy farm in Spain, managing her family’s farm before becoming a veterinarian and then managing what was the largest dairy in Europe as a resident veterinarian. These experiences shaped her career to study practical solutions to the daily struggles on each dairy farm. This includes personnel and data management. She has worked in academia, government, industry, private practice and consulting. Although originally from Spain, Aurora started her career in the United States with a residency in food animal reproduction and herd health at the University of California-Davis, a PhD at Colorado State University, and as faculty for the Veterinary School at Oregon State University. Also, she was an extension veterinarian for the state of Oregon. Aurora has actively directed, managed and published multiple applied projects conducted on commercial dairy farms, often training veterinary students on proper study design, data analysis and reporting. Most of these projects are related to reproduction and herd health in dairy cattle. She wrote a textbook – “Practical Epidemiology for the Veterinarian” – which is used in multiple veterinary schools around the world.

Jim Winn
Cottonwood Dairy

Caio Gamarra
Merck Animal Health