Thiago Oliveira

Thiago de Paula Oliveira

Thiago is a highly skilled and accomplished statistician with over eight years of experience in experimental statistics and statistical modelling. He holds a PhD in Statistics from the University of São Paulo, Brazil, and during his PhD studies, he gained expertise in statistical modelling in agricultural data while working as a visiting scholar at the …

Read more

Mason Chizk

Mason Chizk PhD

Driven by a passion to do more with less, Mason enjoys breaking down resource bottlenecks in breeding programs through pipeline development. His software-driven approach draws from applied field experience in plant breeding programs ranging from inbred seed crops to clonally propagated perennials. As a proponent of the ‘art of plant breeding’, Mason seeks to complement …

Read more

Marcio Araujo

Marcio Araujo PhD

Marcio is a plant breeder specialized in design of breeding strategies, quantitative data analysis, and project management in plant breeding programs. He is passionate about science and technology and aways aiming to see the practical application of his work. Marcio believes that “in the business world, science without practical application is a dormant science”. Marcio …

Read more

Caeli Richardson

Caeli Richardson PhD

Caeli discovered her passion for agriculture while working on a dairy farm in Canada. She broadened her practical experience on a local swine and cash crop operation before gaining a global perspective of on-farm challenges. Incorporating practical experience into her theoretical training allows Caeli to create innovative solutions to multifaceted problems.  She brings tremendous passion and positive …

Read more

Megan Vasko

Megan Vasko MS

  Megan Vasko is a consultant at AbacusBio known for her adaptability, tenacity, and passion for digital whiteboard sessions. She’s primarily focused on programme management, namely AbacusBio’s largest collaboration to date, Bayer Crop Science. In her day to day, she takes the guesswork out of who is doing what, next. She keeps projects on track …

Read more

Anouk Schurink

Anouk Schurink PhD

Anouk Schurink joined AbacusBio with her applied mindset and strong experience in horse breeding, quantitative genetics, genomic analyses, and genetic diversity. Born and raised on the countryside in the east of the Netherlands, Anouk got intrigued by Mendel’s Law in high school when attempting an assignment about the inheritance of flower colours. After obtaining a …

Read more

Tom Kirk

Tom Kirk BCom

Tom’s background in finance, economics, and statistics provide a unique perspective on which clients can tap to understand insights about the trade-offs and economic issues facing the agricultural and food systems industries. Tom joined AbacusBio in 2014, firstly as an intern and then later as a consultant based in Edinburgh. His commerce background and ability …

Read more

Leticia Lara

Letícia Lara PhD

Letícia joined us in our Edinburgh office as a consultant, bringing with her a highly specialised skillset in genetics and plant breeding. Originally from Brazil, Letícia gained a Bachelor and a Master’s degree from the Federal University of Lavras. She moved on to complete a PhD at the University of São Paulo. Her PhD looked at …

Read more

Kathryn Grant

Kathryn Grant PhD

Kathryn Grant joined us in 2020 – based at our Edinburgh office. Originally from Oxford in the UK, she brings to us her strong experience in cereal crop genetics. Whilst a biology major during her undergraduate years at the University of Oxford, she became interested in food security after attending a few lectures throughout her …

Read more

Chris Adams

Chris Adams PhD

Chris joined AbacusBio in July 2021 with his strong experience in plant biochemistry and statistics. He possess a wide range of skills from bioinformatics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to greenhouse and growth room work. Originally from Wirral in the UK, Chris takes pride in his approachable nature and natural ability to communicate complex scientific …

Read more

John Crowley

John Crowley PhD

John Crowley is the managing director of AbacusBio Canada, a subsidiary office established in 2023 in Alberta. He has a PhD in statistical genetics and over 15 years of experience in breeding and genetics, agri-business and data analytics initiatives.  John is passionate about delivering innovative and practical solutions that enhance the genetic potential, profitability, and …

Read more

Mike Carson

Mike Carson PhD

Mike has over 40 years of experience in tree breeding and related forest tree and plant research, initially as a scientist and then R&D manager at the NZ Forest Research Institute, and subsequently as owner and manager in a clonal forestry business (Forest Genetics), and a provider of breeding software (Gemnetics). Mike has completed reviews …

Read more

Merlin McKenzie

Merlin McKenzie MSc

Merlin specialises in the development of commercial software and systems for the commercial forestry sector, and had a part in creating some of New Zealand’s first database applications for management of plantation forests. In 1997, he established Centralis Ltd, a company specialising in corporate information systems design and development. Merlin holds a BSc in Mathematics …

Read more

Ireti Balogun

Ireti Balogun PhD

Ireti is an applied plant and animal breeding consultant, supporting breeding program design and implementation. Her work on breeding program development includes quantifying plant and animal traits in economic terms and prioritizing traits to improve.  Ireti is proud of her work applying new and advanced tools to assess cassava trait improvement preferences of farmers. In …

Read more

Luna Zhang

Luna Zhang PhD 张馨月 博士

Luna specialises in building mathematically-driven models, conducting analysis and producing visual reports for delivering insights for breeding, whether it is livestock or plant. Luna is passionate in transferring data into business insights. She has a fierce passion for communicating data to different audience groups using personalised visuals and storytelling techniques. Originally from China and having …

Read more

Cheryl Quinton

Cheryl Quinton PhD

Cheryl specialises in breeding programs around the world. She enjoys teamwork and thrives in a collaborative environment, engaging closely with colleagues and clients to develop solutions and tools in quantitative genetics, breeding programs, and selection indexes for a wide range of species. Her work includes sheep, beef, dairy, fish, poultry, and crops species.  Cheryl joined …

Read more

Luke Proctor

Luke Proctor MSc

Luke specialises in the implementation of on-farm research projects. His past experience on a variety of science and research projects has given him a broad understanding of scientific processes and how they relate to the agricultural industry. His role at AbacusBio includes working with sheep and cattle breeders on the application of DNA tests and …

Read more

Madeleine Post (1)

Madeleine Post MSc

Madeleine joined us in May 2021, to extend our growing expertise in plant biotechnology. She recently finished a Master’s degree, looking at the biochemical and physiological effects of microplastic and phenanthrene toxicity (using marine macroalgae as a model). Originally from Hamburg, Madeleine spent a large portion of her childhood both in Europe and the Bay of …

Read more

Shalini Kumar

Shalini Kumar PhD

Shalini is a Consultant Project Manager and she manages several projects – both external and internal.  For our client-facing jobs, Shalini’s primary responsibility is to ensure the smooth running of the project, within the agreed budget and timeline. She does this by being involved in the projects from the start to understand the client needs …

Read more

Loame Kok

Loamé Kok (Van Zyl) BSc

Loame first came to AbacusBio as an intern, while pursuing a genetics degree at the University of Otago. She is highly driven and brings her creative, pragmatic mindset towards her work at AbacusBio. At AbacusBio, she is involved in several projects looking at the development of practical packages to support the development of new plant products, …

Read more

Mark Teviotdale

Mark Teviotdale BIT

Mark is an IT manager and a consultant with a remarkable track record. With over 14 years of commercial experience in New Zealand and London, across the health, energy, banking, and agri-tech sectors, Mark is naturally the go-to expert for advising clients on leveraging IT to meet their business needs. Mark joined AbacusBio in 2012, …

Read more

Bruno Santos

Bruno Santos PhD

Bruno focuses on promoting and disseminating breeding strategies to increase efficiency and sustainability in livestock and plant production. Bruno has a global understanding of the agricultural sector, combined with his expertise in development of breeding objectives, and practical application of genetic improvement principles. His approach is to deliver expertise with passion, customer centric focus and …

Read more

Peter Fenessy

Peter Fennessy PhD

Peter is constantly curious, which may explain why he loves science so much. He loves digging into a problem and whilst he is technically very capable, he also looks at the world with a glint in his entrepreneur’s eye. Peter is a champion of science being practical and understanding the science and the commercial landscape …

Read more

Tim Byrne

Tim Byrne PhD

Tim has over 15 years of experience as an applied scientist and a consultant. His work mantra is simple: good scientists need to deliver impact, not just solutions. A broad thinker and an in-depth leader, Tim can help you identify investment and technology opportunities and successfully integrate them into businesses to thrive. He currently heads …

Read more

Jude Sise

Jude Sise MApplSc

Jude is an accomplished problem-solver with ideas and she has the tenacity to bring them to life. Her analytical mind, excellent attention to detail, and commercial acumen make her an outstanding consultant at AbacusBio. Jude specialises in genetics, modelling, and software development. She is also skilled in  communicating complex information clearly, which streamlines and enhances …

Read more