Travel Report: 2025 AAAS International Travel Awards - Laura Jensen

This scholarship funded my attendance at the 26th Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics (AAABG) conference and afforded me the opportunity to visit several farms in New Zealand utilizing the same sensor technology as in my research projects. This trip has helped advance my career as a research scientist both by forging new connections in the animal breeding and genetics area as well as providing interesting new considerations for my research. 

I started my New Zealand trip at a Jersey farm near Ashburton, NZ. I connected with a SmaXtec representative to visit farms in the South Island that use the rumen sensors. The company has been active in New Zealand longer than in Australia, and it was a great opportunity to speak with farmers about how they are utilizing the data for on farm management decisions. My research is looking at ways to use data recorded on sensors to improve genomic predictions and breeding values. I am very interested in adding value to technology farms have already invested in and utilizing data resources that are already available on farm. My research project is focused on using internal body temperature to predict heat tolerance. I found it very interesting that farmers with SmaXtec sensors choose it for the internal body temperature and that it is very useful for managing sick animals. The most useful thing I learned from a farm manager was that eating cold forage causes a significant drop in rumen temperature. When working with rumen data, most researchers account any major drops in rumen temperature to water drinking (which in the summer would hold true). For the main phenotype of interest, rumen temperatuer, identifying and removing drinking (and eating) events is the primary goal. However, I have considered looing at the drinking frequency (major temperature drops) as another phenotype for consideration as a response to heat stress. Thinking about the effect of cold forage on rumen temperature, I may need to reconsider what is classified as drinking events during colder times of the year if they are to be used as a baseline comparison. It is always so exciting to speak with farmers about observations they have from the technologies on farm and see how this can improve the research!

I also greatly enjoyed attending and presenting at the AAABG conference in Queenstown, NZ. It was an excellent opportunity for me to network with and forge connections with animal breeders from Australia and New Zealand (and important opportunity for an international PhD student). Also, having Dr. Ignacy Mitzsal as a keynote speaker was very exciting for me as he is one of the pioneers in heat tolerance prediction and genomic breeding values for dairy cattle. Having an opportunity to present my PhD research at an international conference was also very exciting. I enjoyed fielding questions from a more diverse crowd of researchers (I have primarily spoken at dairy events, so it was nice to see additional perspectives). Likewise, it was very interesting to see the heat tolerance research happening in other livestock species and ruminate on new ideas for my own projects! Finally, I had the opportunity to co-chair a session at AAABG. This was my first time co-chairing and it couldn’t have been with a nicer group of people. I was quite nervous to do this, but grateful for the experience.

Thanks to AAAS for providing this scholarship and enabling me to attend this conference and tour New Zealand dairy farms. Laura Jensen