Dr Melissa Stephen

Melissa is a senior quantitative geneticist at Animal Evaluation, a subsidiary of DairyNZ. In this role, she researchers the inclusion of new traits in the genetic models which underpin the Breeding Worth (BW) selection index.

She also facilitates joint projects with other organisations with the goal of achieving positive breeding outcomes for the NZ dairy sector.

“I enjoy working with data and using it to solve problems,” says Melissa. “I am particularly inspired by working in the dairy sector where there's such a wealth of data available to answer questions. I find working with farmers, knowledgeable people and tackling problems together as a team really rewarding.”

Some of Melissa’s ongoing work includes investigating the use of age-at-puberty and anogenital distance as early-in-life predictors of an animal’s genetic merit for fertility during lactation. “The next iteration of this research is to repeat the work we carried out on Holstein-Friesians in the Jersey breed,” says Melissa. “If we see the same results we could bring these traits into the national fertility evaluation. Ultimately, that's going to lead to more accurate fertility breeding values for farmers and a faster rate of genetic gain.”

She also represents Australasia on the ICAR functional traits working group. The purpose of this group is to maintain and extend universal guidelines for the recording of functional traits around the world.

Melissa began her academic career at Lincoln University, gaining a Bachelor of Commerce in agricultural management. She followed this up with a Master of Science, in genetics and animal breeding at Massey University, which she gained with distinction. DairyNZ then supported her PhD studies in quantitative genetics, at Massey University, where her thesis was acknowledged in the Dean’s list.