Meet the GPS Cows team

Amy is a Senior Research Officer – Agri-tech Education and Innovation at CQ University. Amy works with educators, researchers and industry professionals to develop innovative programs to increase the skills and knowledge of teachers and students in  the latest agri-tech tools and systems. She has developed and implemented a range curriculum aligned agri-tech learning modules for university, VET and high school students.  These modules aim to showcase the scientific and digital skills required in the agricultural industry to attract and build the capacity of the next generation workforce. Amy’s research aims to demonstrate that by exposing young people to agri-tech from an early age this will increase the adoption on technology across the agricultural supply chain as when these young people enter the workforce as they will be confident and skilled in the use of agri-tech.

Mark Trotter is an Associate Professor of Precision Livestock at CQUniversity. Mark’s research is all about getting technology working on farms to improve production efficiency, either by increasing production and price or reducing costs.

He specialises in on-animal sensing and feed-base monitoring and management. Mark is involved in research that applies on-animal sensors to detect a range of issues such disease detection, life-time welfare monitoring and animal-pasture interactions. Mark has been involved in the development and application feed-base sensing systems including: remote sensing, active optical sensors and LiDAR.

Mark is a passionate educator and has taught and developed numerous tertiary units in precision agriculture and grazing systems. He is particularly interested in engaging secondary students in agricultural technology and has been involved in several key projects that deliver learning materials into highschools.

Jaime Manning is a research officer in Precision Livestock with the Precision Livestock Management team at Central Queensland University. In 2013, she received a Bachelor of Animal and Veterinary Bioscience (First Class Honours) at The University of Sydney after completing an honours project researching the use of GPS technology to detect the predation of sheep. Her PhD investigated heterogeneity in pasture systems, and how it affects cattle production, paddock utilisation and behaviour using livestock tracking and pasture sensor technologies. She has been involved in numerous projects with tracking technologies on livestock (predominately cattle and sheep) and has experience teaching into university undergraduate subjects, preparing learning material for practical classes and workshops, marking exams and presenting at domestic and international conferences. Her experience in livestock tracking has been used to help co-develop courses and lessons for “GPS cows”, and she is excited to be able to highlight the range of applications and information we can get from tracking technologies.

Sergio is originally from Houston, Texas.  Sergio earned his B.S. in Animal Science from Texas A&M University-Kingsville, his M.S. in Agricultural Education at Texas A&M University-College Station. He then served as an Animal Production Specialist/Habitat Conservationist Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador between 2004-2006.  Afterwards, he received his Ph.D. in Animal Biology from the University of California, Davis where he studied the interplay between nutrition and reproduction.  Sergio is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Animal & Rangeland Sciences at Oregon State University.  He is a field faculty with the Oregon State University Extension Service in Malheur County, Oregon, which spans 6.5 million acres of the most remote areas within the continental U.S.  His work focuses on maintaining and improving healthy landscapes in the high desert sagebrush steppe.

Colt grew up in a coal mining family in West Virginia where they also operated a small family farm and show horse stable. During academic breaks and between schools, he worked in strip mines across the country. Colt earned his B.S. in Animal Science at the University of Kentucky, M.S. in Animal Science at Angelo State University, and his Ph.D. in Animal Science at the University of Arizona in 2006, 2012, and 2016, respectively. In fall of 2016, he worked on a post doc with Dr. Derek Bailey at New Mexico State University. Recently, Colt started work as an Assistant Professor of Extension – State Livestock Specialist for the University of Maine.

Colt’s graduate work has focused on range land ecology, the utilization of livestock as a cultural/biological control, cow herd efficiency as it relates intake, reproduction, longevity and grazing behavior. Also, he has worked to develop lower cost GPS tracking collars and ways to analyze tracking data.