PLM Team
Professor Mark Trotter
Professor Mark Trotter is a leading researcher in the field of precision livestock management. With hands on experience in the dairy and beef industries, and a background in agribusiness he brings a practical business emphasis to livestock research. His focus is on developing sensors and management systems that improve the production, efficiency, and sustainability of grazing livestock systems. Mark leads the Precision Livestock Management Group at CQUniversity. He is a Fulbright Scholarship recipient and holds adjunct appointments at The Ohio State University and Oklahoma State University.
Professor Simon Quigley
Ruminant nutrition researcher Simon Quigley is a Professor of Livestock and Animal Science in the Precision Livestock Management team. He leads CQ University’s delivery of a collaborative research capacity-building program with Sam Ratulangi University (UNSRAT) in Indonesia. Having worked primarily with beef cattle and more recently with goats, Professor Quigley’s research track record has contributed to improved nutritional management to increase productivity of ruminants across a range of production systems and environments. He also has active research interests in understanding the underlying biology.
Dr Jaime Manning
Dr Jaime Manning is a lecturer in Agriculture at CQUniversity Australia and an Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellow. Jaime's main research interests are using and incorporating technology on-farm to improve the level of monitoring and welfare of livestock, whilst providing invaluable information into how we manage livestock and detect issues as they arise in extensive production systems. Currently, she teaches animal production, behaviour, welfare and new and emerging technologies and is also working with the Australia Wool Innovation testing smart sensor ear tag for predation and disease detection in sheep.
Dr Diogo Costa
Dr Diogo Costa is a senior researcher with the Precision Livestock Management (PLM) team, working on technology for sensing calving and calf loss. In 2021, Diogo was also awarded a prestigious Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship to evaluate dietary supplements that reduce methane emissions by using cutting edge technology to efficiently add these compounds into livestock water supply. Diogo has a background in pasture agronomy and animal production with emphasis on ruminant nutrition.
Dr Thomas Williams
Dr Thomas Williams is a researcher in the Precision Livestock Management team at CQUniversity. His research has focussed on established and developing industries, assessing the interactions between parasites, wildlife hosts, farming practices, and livestock disease. More recently, Thom’s work has investigated novel therapeutics and point-of-decision diagnostic tools for improved cattle health and production outcomes in extensive and intensive systems. He now works on the development of remote monitoring technologies for the northern beef industry to enable evidenced-based outcomes in remote and rugged environments.
Dr Cara Wilson
Dr Cara Wilson is a Research Officer within the School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences at CQUniversity Australia. In 2020, Cara obtained her PhD from Charles Sturt University, in which she investigated the epidemiology and impacts of hydatid disease (Echinococcus granulosus) on the Australian beef industry. Cara’s main research interests are animal health and welfare within livestock production systems and using technology and data collection to monitor and manage these. She has a passion for conducting research that provides practical and sustainable outcomes to industry.
Dr. Anita Z. Chang
Dr. Anita Z. Chang is a senior postdoctoral research fellow with the Precision Livestock Management team at CQ University. Anita completed a Bachelor of Animal and Veterinary Bioscience (Hons I), majoring in Animal Production Science at The University of Sydney in 2017. More recently, Anita obtained a PhD in Precision Livestock Management from CQ University, with a thesis entitled “The remote, autonomous detection of calving and calf loss using on-animal sensing systems”. Anita has expertise in data analytics, livestock biomechanics and behaviour, and research in extensive grazing environments, and is an active collaborator with researchers in the United States. Her research interests include precision livestock management, cow-calf interactions, and livestock behaviour.
Dr Pat Colusso
Dr Patricia Colusso is a researcher in the Precision Livestock Management team at CQUniversity. She is currently working on the NB2 project which is assessing practical interventions to reduce calf wastage and herd mortality in northern grazing systems. Patricia obtained her PhD in 2022 from the University of Sydney, in which she evaluated a pre-commercial virtual fence technology for grazing dairy cattle. Patricia’s main research interests are in livestock health and welfare in intensive and extensive systems and the role technology has in monitoring and informing livestock management.
Jonathan Reid
Jonathan Reid is a PhD student at CQUniversity within the School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences. His PhD is investigating the detection of oestrus using sensor technologies within extensive beef production to provide producers a greater understanding of key fertility parameters. Jonathan completed a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Honours), majoring in animal science in 2021. His honours thesis involved using near-infrared spectroscopy to identify feed efficiency performance in tropically adapted steers using tail hair samples.
Justin Macor
Justin Macor is a PhD candidate within CQUniversity’s school of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences. Justin’s research investigates the possibility of detecting difficult calving events in extensively grazed beef cattle using on-animals sensing technologies. Justin completed a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Honours) at the University of Queensland and majored in plant science after completing an Honours thesis which investigated the long-term changes in pasture composition under different grazing strategies.
Tek Raj Awasthis
Tek Raj Awasthis is a PhD student at CQUniversity. His research project is focused in developing the simulation modelling tools to enhance the genetic progression of cattle. Tek has completed a Master of Science (Microbiology) from Tribhuvan University, Nepal in 2015 and a Master of Science (Computer Science) from Federation University, Australia in 2019.