Animal Production Systems Group - Current PhD Projects
Environment
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Developing sustainable breeding strategies for dairy cattle in China with emphasis on improved resilience
PhD project by Rui Shi. China’s desire to increase its self-sufficiency for milk production would inevitably result in a dramatic impact on the... -
Integrated crop-dairy systems as a solution towards circularity in agriculture
PhD project by Lianne Alderkamp. Combining forage crops and temporary grassland with cash-crop production, can mitigate the environmental impacts of... -
Re-thinking pasture-based ruminant systems towards a sustainable future
PhD project by Cecilia Ayala. The role of ruminants in present and future food systems is currently highly contested, among others because of their... -
Restoring nutrient cycling in the Chinese dairy sector from a perspective of the entire food system
PhD project by Yue Wang. To develop a sustainable dairy system in China, crop and animal production need to be recoupled and nutrients need to be... -
Towards regenerative agriculture: the case of dairy and arable farming in the Netherlands
PhD project by Loekie Schreefel. Farm animals reared under a circular paradigm can play a crucial role in feeding humanity while decreasing the... -
Pursuing circularity in food systems: unravelling the environmental potential of waste-fed black soldier fly larvae
PhD project by Alejandro Parodi Parodi. Food systems need to be restructured through a synergistic combination of measures that tackle food waste and... -
The role of livestock in the food system: the case of Ireland
PhD project by Donagh Hennessy. To meet global nutritional needs within global production boundaries a solution is to use livestock to convert biomass... -
Reducinq freshwater use in pork production - the case study of Ireland
PhD project by Shilpi Misra. The livestock sector is highly dependent on water availability, as water is used for animal drinking, cleaning, feed... -
Improving feeding practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from smallholder dairy farms in Indonesia
PhD project by Titis Apdini. The Ministry of Agriculture, Republic of Indonesia developed a policy to increase herd size from 2 to 5 cows per farm.... -
Sustainable intensification of smallholder dairy farms in Indonesia: the contribution of manure management strategies
PhD project by Windi al Zahra. Smallholder dairy farms, being the backbone of the Indonesian milk industry, contribute to environmental problems...
Animal welfare
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Enlighted pigs: throwing a light on pigs’ welfare
PhD project by Alice Scaillierez. So far, the relevance of light intensity and light spectrum for pig welfare is often neglected, as also important... -
Cowtact: How does prolonged cow-calf contact from birth to weaning impact dairy calf and cow welfare
PhD project by Sarah McPherson. This project assesses the impact and feasibility of an innovative, more natural manner of raising dairy calves. We... -
Continuous welfare assessment: using feeding patterns to monitor the welfare of growing-finishing pigs
PhD project by Jacinta Bus. Animal welfare is a dynamic process and differs between individuals housed in the same environment. Continuous monitoring... -
The welfare of dairy cows in pasture-based systems
PhD project by Robin Crossley. In pasture-based systems, cows must obtain the majority of their dry matter intake (DMI) through grazing, must walk... -
Evaluating strategies to reduce labour shortages associated with calf rearing
PhD project by Alison Sinnott. Calving is one of the most labour intensive processes in a grass-based dairy system, because of its seasonality.... -
Implications of cow-calf contact for dairy cow and calf welfare
PhD project by Margret Wenker. There are societal concerns about the early separation of dairy cow and calf. This project aims to investigate rearing... -
Biomarkers of happiness and stress in dairy cattle
PhD project by Louise Kremer. Animal welfare depends on their emotional experiences. Current methods to assess emotions in cows are still lacking...
Livelihood
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Role of livestock in circular food systems in Kenya
PhD project by Dagmar Braamhaar. Livestock provides essential nutrients to prevent malnutrition and feed the growing human population in developing... -
Balancing biodiversity conservation and food production
PhD project by Vincent Oostvogels. It remains difficult to increase agriculture’s contribution to biodiversity conservation, among others due to... -
The role of maize-soybean-chicken value chains in sustainable food systems: the case of Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania
PhD project by Wilson Charles Wilson. Tanzania has a large gap between food production and healthy consumption. To attain SDG2, a diet should be... -
Improving milk quality of dairy systems in Kenya
PhD project by Simon Ndungu Nyokabi. Knowledge of milk quality and constraints to improvement is limited among smallholder farmers in Kenya, which... -
Livestock and competing claims on natural resources at the population-land-livestock nexus in Mbire District in the Mid-Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe
PhD project by Steven Matema. Smallholder farmers in rural communal areas of Zimbabwe practice mixed farming under rain fed conditions, in which...
Circular food systems
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Environmental and economic analysis of circular agriculture initiatives in the North of the Netherlands
PhD project by Anne Hoogstra. Improving the efficiency of the current food system is not sufficient to address the environmental challenges. Instead,... -
A just transition towards a circular food system in the North of the Netherlands
PhD project by Annemarieke de Bruin. The current exploitation of the environment for the benefit of food production has resulted in environmental and... -
The role of protein quality in a healthy and sustainable human diet
PhD project by Shiksha Adhikari. Most studies focused on understanding the relationship of food within our current linear food system, while reducing... -
Environmental consequences of adopting circularity at different spatial scales
PhD project by Ben van Selm. Circular food systems are increasingly seen as an important pathway to a sustainable food system. Closing cycles at a...