Dr Kim Bunter

Biography

Dr Kim Bunter is the Deputy Director of the Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit (AGBU). AGBU is a co-operative research and development institute created by NSW DPI and UNE to further the application of genetics to the Australian agriculture industries. There are currently 29 research and support staff at AGBU, and 10 HDR students. Kim completed her PhD in animal breeding in 2002 (UNE). She has a long history at AGBU conducting research and development activities behind Australia’s state of the art national genetic evaluation systems, such as Sheep Genetics, Breedplan and PigBLUP, and has also contributed to implementation of effective breeding programs within the major livestock industries. She has conducted research in numerous species, including intensive (pigs), extensive (beef cattle and sheep), novel (ostriches) and aquatic (oysters, shrimp) species. Kim has initiated many projects as principal investigator and has participated in many other projects (internal and external) as a co-investigator.

Kim has over 200 publications in conference proceedings, journals, book chapters, reports and articles and >1450 citations (Google scholar). She has chaired sessions and presented talks on her research as an invited speaker both in Australia and internationally, and is an expert reviewer for many high impact journals. Kim has been included in scientific advisory and technical groups within the Pork CRC and Sheep Genetics. As a specialist advisor, she has evaluated research projects for funding bodies and consults to private companies.

Kim has particular interest in improving reproductive performance and welfare of livestock. Her most recent activities have focussed on improving understanding of health and welfare of sows, development of new genetic evaluation systems for reproduction traits in sheep, and she has also contributed to research activities for honey bees and shrimp. She has previously been involved in research into novel traits (eg IGF-I, immune competence, heat stress and feed intake or feeding behaviour) and in novel species (ostriches), as well as mortality of calves and piglets, reproductive performance of beef cows and sows, enhancement of production efficiency traits, as well as meat quality characteristics. She has direct engagement with breeders, particularly in the pig industry, and has also fostered international research collaborations. The combination of academic pursuit and industry engagement has been enabled through her journey at AGBU. Kim is currently an Associate Editor for Animal Production Science, a past President (2018-2019) and member of the national Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics (AAABG), and a member of the Australasian Pig Science Association (APSA). She spent 10 years as a trustee for the Armidale Animal Breeding Trust, which provides scholarships to Armidale based HDR students studying genetics to attend international conferences.

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