In the spotlight: Esther Ellen, project leader and deputy head of ABG

Hello Esther, could you perhaps introduce yourself and share a bit about your position at ABG?

My name is Esther Ellen, I live in Zetten and I have been working at the ABG group for almost 20 years now. Currently, I’m working as a project leader and I’m also deputy head of ABG.

How and when did you start at ABG? And where did you work before you came to WUR?

I started at ABG as a PhD student. My PhD thesis focused on social interactions in laying hens. After finishing my PhD in 2009, I continued working as a postdoc and continued my work on social interactions. I realized that I really enjoyed working on different projects and arranging the project management of the different projects. Therefore, in 2019, I ‘moved’ to Wageningen Livestock Research, Animal Breeding and Genomics (WLR-ABG) to become a project leader/project manager. I really enjoy being a part of ABG where people from the University and WLR can work together to tackle important research questions.

I’m curious, what sparked your interest in genetics and/or animal breeding?

Within animal breeding we are at the frontline of using innovative tools to measure individual traits and using individual information to improve animals and animal populations. Knowing that I can contribute and be a part of this research makes me excited to get up in the morning and come to work every day. In my research, we use innovative tools – like camera’s or organoids – to measure individual (complex) traits. Furthermore, it’s really interesting that we can use our knowledge in new research areas as well, for instance insect breeding.

What motivates/drives you in your work? What gives you energy?

I like the combination of being a project leader and being responsible as a deputy head of ABG. As project leader, I can be involved in new research areas. It gives me energy to work together with different colleagues from different disciplines, and to work together with different companies. As deputy head, I enjoy helping my colleagues in their personal and professional development and supporting them with acquisition and developing new research areas. It really makes me proud when I see my colleagues develop themselves and do work that they like and find important!

Can you share some information about a project you are currently working on? Something that you’re proud of?

Actually, to be honest, I’m proud of all the projects I am involved in. My projects cover a wide range of research topics (sensor technologies to measure activity and leg health in broilers, organoids, insect breeding, resilience, and reproduction technologies), and I am proud of what we have already achieved. For example, we have developed an organoid lab for WUR-ASG (Animal Sciences Group) to produce intestinal organoids of pigs. Also, for broilers, we have developed a tool to measure activity of birds kept in groups, following them using computer vision, and a tool to identify key points to detect the pose in birds. I think those are all great results that we – as a group, not just me – should be very proud of! In all the projects, it’s nice to see that researchers with different backgrounds are collaborating to tackle difficult research questions.

On a more personal note, what are your hobbies? How do you like to spend your free time?

My biggest ‘hobby’ is my family, haha! My husband and my three kids. We live at a dairy farm, so I also try to help on the farm if necessary. Other than that, I really like to paint, decorate the house, bake with the kids, and make puzzles.

Final question, who would you like to nominate for the next interview in this series, and why?

Oh, that’s a difficult question! I think everyone at ABG should be in the spotlight, as they all do very important work! However, I would like to nominate one of the lab technicians, as they are not often in the spotlight, but VERY important for the work within our group. So the next person that I think should be featured in this series is Leo Kruijt.