Pilar Sepúlveda-Varas, Nina von Keyserlingk and Alejandra Barrientos
Dr. Pilar Sepúlveda-Varas, supervised by Dr. Nina von Keyserlingk, Professor in the Animal Welfare Program, successfully defended her Doctor of Veterinary Sciences on June 16 at the Universidad Austral de Chile in Valdivia, Chile.
Pilar spent approximately one third of her degree at UBC in the Animal Welfare Program working on improving the identification of sick cows before clinical signs of disease. The remainder of her research was done in Chile where she applied similar concepts but this time applying them to grazing herds. Her work is a testament to the strong collaboration between the Animal Welfare Program and the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences at the Universidad Austral de Chile. Program alumni Dr. Alejandra Barrientos who completed her M.Sc. in dairy cattle welfare in 2013 is also working with dairy farmers in Chile on ways to improve dairy cattle welfare.