Matthew Newman

Matthew Newman

Matt Newman, joined AbacusBio in 2023. Matt is a Senior Economist with vast agricultural production experience and affinity with New Zealand livestock sectors. Over the last 25 years Matt has developed and led Economic teams for Beef+Lamb New Zealand, DairyNZ and MPI. Matt specialises in farm systems analysis, benchmarking, forecasting and environmental impact assessments. Before …

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Doug Bjelland

Doug Bjelland PhD

Doug is a Quantitative Genetics consultant and works with clients to help solve a wide range of genetic questions. This could be anything from building a genetic selection index, helping direct an elite or commercial breeding program, modelling specific investment or genetic scenarios, developing strategies around crossbreeding and inbreeding avoidance, or development of software, data …

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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 …

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David Kenny

David Kenny PhD

David is an Animal Breeder Consultant who focuses on a variety of aspects associated with genetic improvement in livestock production. This primarily involves modelling the effects and implications of animal breeding programs. Moreover, David possesses an in-depth knowledge of genetic and genomic analyses, including variance component and breeding value estimation. David takes pride in contributing …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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Katarzyna Stachowicz

Katarzyna Stachowicz PhD

Born and raised in Poland, Kat joined AbacusBio in 2013 and is an expert on animal breeding and genetics with special interest in genetic variability and the long term consequences of selection. Her experience in the genetic evaluation of sheep and cattle, variance components estimation, economic selection indexes and the identification of key ancestors for …

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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 …

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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 …

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Nadia Mclean

Nadia McLean

Nadia joined AbacusBio in 2013 and specialises in the implementation of on-farm research projects, such as the Hill Central Progeny Test. Nadia’s focus is on lifting productivity behind the farm gate. Her background includes working with sheep breeders on the research and development of DNA tests and SNP technology and the logistical implementation of meat …

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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 …

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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, …

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Nathalie Howes

Natalie Howes PhD

The opportunities presented to Natalie while growing up on-farm in the sheep, beef, and dairy industries, is what motivates Natalie to deliver impact to the agricultural sector. With an affable personality and grassroots core, Natalie works closely with clients to strategically apply scientific principles that deliver commercially relevant solutions. While based in AbacusBio’s Dunedin office, …

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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, …

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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 …

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Neville Jopson

Neville Jopson PhD

Neville joined AbacusBio in 2001, coming from an extensive practical and applied science background in New Zealand and European agricultural science and agribusiness. He has developed a variety of technological innovations in the areas of imaging technology, measurement of carcasses and meat cuts in live animals using CT and ultrasound scanning, as well as genetic …

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Fiona Hely

Fiona Hely BAppSc(Hons)

Fiona is a logical thinker and a great problem solver. You will find that she has a good listening ear and is able to successfully help you piece the puzzles together to resolve challenges and meet your data needs. Fiona specialises in the design and simulation of breeding programs and optimisation, bringing to clients her …

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Simon Glennie

Simon Glennie BSc

Simon is a practical person full of ideas and the passion to work with farmers. As a farm consultant at AbacusBio, Simon finds great satisfaction in advising and helping farmers succeed in making their farm systems more practical and efficient. Drawing on his science-based skills and practical experience, Simon’s own mixed system farming background has …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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Peter Amer

Peter Amer PhD

Peter is a world-class scientist, renowned for his multi-faceted approach to designing and developing effective breeding programs. He has a talent for creating practical innovative solutions that apply to a range of complex issues, whether it be technical, commercial, or political. It is not surprising that his problem-solving capabilities are widely sought around the world. …

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