Tom grew up in Sydney and after finishing high school moved to the region to work on the family sheep and cattle property managed by two of his uncles. Tom then commenced a Bachelor of Animal Science at Charles Sturt University and in his final year undertook an honours research project investigating the effects of vitamin D on the calcium status of twin bearing ewes. After graduating, Tom returned to the family property and was assigned the job of working out why the lambs were not growing as fast as they should. Tom was unsuccessful in meeting these high expectations, but rather than give up he decided to commence a PhD thesis investigating the constraints on lamb growth in intensive finishing systems.

Gordon is a research scientist working in the field of small ruminant reproduction. He has worked on studies involving genetics, meat science, meat goat reproduction, nutrition, wool production, disease, vaccine, and body temperature studies, leading to strong interests in the thermal environment impact on sheep production. Gordon is known in places as the autopsy guy as he has done a lot of work on neonatal lamb autopsy. Gordon recently led a project that developed a prototype to measure body condition score in sheep. He is currently involved in several research projects including, mineral balance in sheep grazing perennial wheat, the survival of triplet ewes and their lambs, increasing the adoption of pregnancy scanning, the vulnerability of sheep production systems to climate variability, and the refinement of body condition score targets for spring and summer mating.

Craig is Managing Director of Craig Wilson and Associates. His company provides technical advice and merino genetic consultancy to clients across Australia, including some of Australia’s leading merino sheep studs and largest commercial breeders. Craig’s company has been heavily involved in across flock benchmarking running wether trials since 2004, measuring both wool and meat traits, clearly defining the strengths and weaknesses of entrant’s flocks genetics. Craig Wilson and Associates also has over 10,000 sheep under its management, having initiated sheep share farming agreements with five properties. The farms provide the land and Craig is responsible for the management, marketing and decision making. In November 2019, he purchased the Kentish Downs Poll Dorset Stud, aiming to supply production driven terminal genetics to clients across Australia

Susan completed a Bachelor of Applied Science (Agriculture) at Charles Sturt University and a PhD in sheep and wool production at the University of New South Wales. She spent five years as a livestock officer with the Victorian Department of Primary Industries at Walpeup, before returning to the family farm. Since joining Charles Sturt University in 2006, Susan has worked with teams researching sheep reproduction, particularly practical husbandry to increase both the number of lambs born and lamb survival. Other research includes sheep production systems and simulation modelling. Susan also lectures in sheep production at Charles Sturt, teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Bruce is currently Professor of Livestock Systems and Director at the Fred Morley Centre at Charles Sturt University’s School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences (Wagga). Bruce completed his veterinary degree with Honours at Sydney University, and worked at both Massey University and Melbourne University’s Mackinnon Project before operating his own Sheep and Cattle Consultancy practice for 25 years. Bruce completed his PhD in footrot, and is a Fellow of the Australian College. Bruce has a keen interest in on-farm disease management and production. Bruce operates his own sheep and cattle property in southern NSW.

Susan is a soil scientist with NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and is based at the Wagga Wagga Agricultural Institute. Susan is passionate about delivering farm-ready research focusing on strategies to increase soil carbon and nutrient cycling in agricultural soil. Her current projects include grazing and nutrient management to increase soil carbon, using remotely sensed imagery to identify zones to increase soil carbon sequestration in rangeland ecosystems and developing soil condition metrics to value the benefits of improved soil management.

Kayla grew up on a Merino stud in Central West NSW before completing a Bachelor of Animal Science (Hons) at Charles Sturt University. Following completion of her degree she worked as a livestock advisor for both Landmark and Elders before returning to complete her PhD in 2017. Kayla's PhD research focuses on addressing the issues of lamb mortality through altering nutrition to increase colostrum/milk production of ewes, immunity transfer from ewe to lamb and weight gain of lambs focusing on multiple bearing Merino ewes. Kayla is expected to complete her PhD in the next month, and with her passion for the sheep industry she would like to remain involved in ruminant production. Kayla also runs a small commercial cattle breeding herd on her family's property and continues to assist with operations on the families Merino stud.

Dean is currently CEO of Select Carbon, working with landholders to combine grazing enterprises with carbon farming. His current and past work has been in production systems that are suited to our environment, and in particular, how we can manage grazing systems to optimise business performance, animal productivity and land management. Dean co-led the national Enrich project that explored the multiple benefits of Australian native shrubs in grazing systems, co-developed self-herding, which is a set of practices based on animal behaviour and nutrition. Previously, Dean established Revell Science as an independent consultancy to link science to practice. He also spent a decade as a research scientist with the CSIRO, and worked in universities in Western Australia, South Australia and New Zealand for over a decade.