NICK SNEDDON is a senior lecturer in animal breeding and genetics at Massey University. His research interests include cattle and sheep breeding as well as bioinformatics of diverse microbial populations. Prior to working at Massey University, he worked for Fonterra in R&D setting up a genomics lab capability. NATALIA MARTIN is a lecturer in animal science at Massey University. Originally from Argentina, she completed an agronomy degree at the University of Buenos Aires, and came to New Zealand to work in agriculture. She worked in technical and field research positions at the Massey University’s sheep, beef and dairy farms for several years, completing a PhD evaluating the finishing performance of beef sires in a dairy-beef system. Her research interests include farm animal growth and meat quality.