Jolene Van Tonder

Jolene van Tonder

Jolene is a software developer who works as part of our IT development team on our breeding software Dtreo. Jolene holds a Bachelor of Education in Mathematics and Human Movement Science and after a teaching career pursued a Bachelor of Science in IT whereafter she started her software development career. Jolene likes to make other …

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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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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 …

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Ee Cheng

Ee Cheng Ooi PhD

As a veterinarian with a genetics PhD, Ee Cheng works across a wide variety of animal projects. A typical day for her might include building genetic evaluations for health and fertility traits, modelling changes to farm systems, or working with clients to help them get value out of their data. One of her favourite projects …

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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 …

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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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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 …

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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 …

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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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Jamie Horrell

Jamie Horrell BIT

Jamie first joined us as an intern in 2020 after finishing a Bachelor of Information Technology from Otago Polytechnic. During his internship, he re-designed the user experience for Gemnetics’ suite of breeding software products. Born and bred in Mosgiel, Jamie has a strong eye for detail and developed a strong passion for building websites and …

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Martyn Haigh

Martyn Haigh BA BBS DipGrad

Martyn joined AbacusBio in 2019 as a software developer and brings to us his deep experience in IT and coding. Originally from Pukekohe in New Zealand, his varied roles across the country has led him to pursue a DipGrad in IT at the University of Otago. He also holds a Bachelor of Business Studies in …

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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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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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