Jennifer Van Os is an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in Animal Welfare in the Department of Animal & Dairy Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison). The research in her lab at UW-Madison focuses on understanding, evaluating, and improving the welfare of dairy animals from both biological and social perspectives.
Dr. Van Os believes understanding and promoting animal welfare to be an essential part of achieving sustainability in food animal production. To this end, the applied questions in her research program follow these broad themes: (1) understanding the needs of dairy animals from a biological, species- and life-stage-appropriate perspective: what behaviors are important for them to be able to express and what resources do they need? (2) Improving the fit between dairy animals and their environments: how do housing, management, and handling decisions affect cattle behavior, physiology, and production? (3) How do we evaluate animal welfare effectively in both research and commercial farm settings? To complement her research program, the goal of Dr. Van Os’ extension program is to promote best practices in management and housing to help the dairy industry adapt as our scientific knowledge about animal welfare continues to grow.
Dr. Van Os earned a B.A. in Psychology in 2004 from Harvard University, where she conducted original research on memory and aging in humans. After gaining 6 years of professional business experience, Dr. Van Os attended graduate school at the University of California-Davis (UC-Davis) from 2010-2015 and received her PhD in the interdisciplinary Animal Behavior graduate program. She then conducted postdoctoral research in the Department of Animal Science at UC-Davis in 2016 and in the Animal Welfare Program at the University of British Columbia, Canada in 2017. From 2016-2020, she served as the Communications Officer on the Council for the International Society for Applied Ethology (ISAE). She joined the faculty at UW-Madison in 2018.
Dr. Emily Miller-Cushon is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Florida. Her research program focuses on improving knowledge about dairy calf rearing and management and developing novel ways to measure animal welfare. She has specifically investigated the role of dairy calf feeding and housing management in behavioral development, performance, and health, with the aim of refining early rearing practices to improve long-term dairy cattle welfare.
She has received the New Investigator Award from the International Society for Applied Ethology in recognition of her research accomplishments. She also leads an active teaching program in animal behavior and welfare.
Dr. Miller-Cushon serves on the program committee for the Dairy Cattle Welfare Council and has served as chair of the Animal Behavior and Well-being Program committee for the American Dairy Science Association Annual Meeting. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Guelph and B.S. from the University of Waterloo.
Kayla is the manager of dairy science and farm practices at Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) and oversees implementation of their internal evaluation program Gold Standard, alongside the FARM Program. She is service-driven and committed to promoting best practices in animal and farm worker care.
Prior to joining DFA, Kayla gained extensive production agriculture experience by working on numerous dairies and ranches located in the United States and abroad. She received her B.S in Animal Science and Agricultural Literacy from Colorado State University, and M.S shortly after focusing her research on perceptions of the National Dairy FARM Program. Findings from Kayla’s research helped initiate additional farmer input in the program, development of the Farmer Advisory Council, and emphasize the importance of the Program to the dairy industry.
Kayla is a PAACO certified dairy auditor and a certified FARM Program evaluator/trainer. She leads farm practices training efforts across DFA and serves as a resource to staff and members. In her spare time, Kayla enjoys playing ice hockey and spending time outdoors with her family.
Nathan Chittenden farms alongside his two brothers and his parents at Dutch Hollow Farm LLC, in Schodack Landing NY. Starting with a small herd of 55 registered Jerseys in 1976, the family has grown steadily through internal growth to the herd of 800 today. The families commitment to the registered Jersey breed as well as their public outreach has earned them a spot in the National Dairy Shrine. After receiving his BS in Animal Science at Cornell in 2000, Nate returned home to the family farm where he married his wife Jill. Today they have 3 children, Zachary, Jonathan, and Anna. In addition to managing the calves and young heifers, Nathan has also been active as a 4H leader and past president and Vice President of the local board of directors of Cooperative Extension. Nathan has also served as President and Vice President of the YC’s of his Coop, Agrimark.
Learn more about the Farmer Advisory Council
Karen and her husband, Norman Jordan, Jr. own and operate Brush Creek Swiss Farms. Norman is third generation dairy farmer and Norman and Karen have operated the all registered Brown Swiss herd for over 34 years. Current herd size is 90 mature cows and they raise all of their replacement animals. Karen also operates Large Animal Veterinary Services with most of her veterinary career focused on dairy herd health.
Karen and Norman are producer members with Dairy Farmers of America where Karen serves on the Southeast Area Council. Karen is chair of the NMPF Animal Health and Wellbeing Committee and has served as chair of the Technical Writing Group of the NMPF National Dairy FARM Program. Karen has also served on the technical writing committee of the Milk and Dairy Beef Drug Residue Prevention: Producer Manual of Best Management Practices. She has also been actively involved in the North Carolina Dairy Biosecurity efforts and active in the Mid Atlantic Secure Milk Supply efforts. In the past she has also represented NMPF on the Animal Agriculture Liaison Committee of the American Veterinary Medical Association. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the National Institute for Animal Agriculture.
Dr. Gingrich grew up in rural northwest Ohio and graduated from Ohio State CVM in 1995. He worked for veterinarians throughout high school and was active in 4-H and FFA raising calves and sheep. Dr. Gingrich also practiced in Visalia, California, for two years in a large dairy practice then returned to Ohio where he focuses primarily on dairy practice with cow-calf and beef and owns Country Roads Veterinary Services, Inc., in Ashland, Ohio where he has practiced for 19 years.
He has been actively involved in organized veterinary medicine and with AABP has been involved with the Committee on Pharmaceutical and Biologic Issues and the AABP Executive Committee. He has a special interest in judicious drug use on beef and dairy farms including upcoming Veterinary Feed Directive issues and has been involved with the AVMA Clinical Practitioners Advisory Committee, the AVMA Council on Biologic and Therapeutic Agents and the National Milk Producers Federation residue avoidance manual.
