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Wilcox comes from an East Coast sheep and beef farming family, in it for three generations. He has a background in molecular and quantitative genetics and comes from the forestry Crown Research Institute Scion, where he was a senior scientist.
In the BLNZ-funded role will set up a two-year master of applied sciences in quantitative genetics at the university. Quantitative genetics is central to most BLNZ Genetics research and underpins its sheep genetics system SIL.
“For 20 years, to get people with these skills in NZ, we’ve tended to recruit people with PhDs or advanced master’s from overseas. The master’s programme is to begin filling such roles with home-grown talent, [to ensure] NZ has a ready supply of appropriate capability – talent relevant to our primary sector’s productivity. And continued genetic improvement is a key part of sustaining our nation’s GDP.”
Wilcox says students are likely to come from biological, statistical or computer science backgrounds.
BLNZ Genetics chairman Dr Chris Kelly says quantitative genetics is a critical discipline in animal and plant breeding and key to BLNZ Genetics getting genetic gain for commercial sheep and beef farmers.
“It is, however, a specialist discipline and there are very few practitioners trained to an advanced level in NZ.
“BLNZ Genetics is investing in the senior lecturer position and master’s programme so the red meat sector can begin building people capability to ensure animal breeding continues to advance sheep and beef production.
“The master’s programme will link with other genetics programmes in NZ and make extensive use of primary industry scientists. This will help facilitate a pathway for master’s students to transition into work positions.”
The new position sits within the University of Otago’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Wilcox will work with other scientists who also contribute to BLNZ Genetics research.
About B+L NZ genetics
BLNZ Genetics is the government-backed subsidiary of BLNZ Ltd that brings together NZ’s existing sheep and beef genetics research and innovation through the consolidation of SIL, the BLNZ Central Progeny Test and Ovita.
It means what?
Quantitative genetics is the study of the inheritance of traits that can sit anywhere along a range, eg, an animal’s height or weight, as opposed to traits that can only be one of several distinct options, such as eye colour in humans or flower colour in peas.
