Australian Dairy Conference 2024: Laura Jensen wins scientist award

Originally from freezing Wisconsin, an American researcher has made a successful switch into Australian dairy research.

Overheated herds and parched paddocks aren’t a worry in wintry Wisconsin – cold cows and frozen fields are a more common feature in Laura Jensen’s home state.

But that hasn’t thwarted the American scientist’s success Down Under in studying heat stress in Australian cattle.

“Wisconsin is on the opposite side of the globe and we have the opposite types of problems on dairy farms with weather,” the Wisconsin native said.

The LaTrobe University student was recognised at last week’s Australian Dairy Conference, winning the ADC’s 2024 Young Scientist of the Year award.

Aimed at early-stage career scientists, the award allows up-and-coming scientists to present the latest in dairy research developments to a wider audience.

Ms Jensen grew up on a dairy farm in Comstock, northwest Wisconsin. She studied at the University of Minnesota before making the move to Australia a year ago to undertake PhD work at the AgriBio centre, at La Trobe’s Bundoora campus.

Laura Jensen at La Trobe University AgriBio building Picture: Zoe Phillips

“I met Jennie Pryce (from Agriculture Victoria) at a research conference in the US. We worked together on my Masters research and she recruited me to come out here to Australia,” Ms Jensen said.

“Jennie is one of the best geneticists in the field worldwide and just a wonderful person, so I came out here to work with her.”

Ms Jensen is researching how to identify and reduce heat stress in cattle.

“A lot of cows in Australia have collars or eartags that are a lot like our smartwatchs that are recording their eating behaviour, sleeping behaviour etcetra,” she said.

“We’re seeing if we can take that information and start to develop phenotypes or traits that are associated with behavioural changes during heat stress, and if we can use those to select cows that are going to pass on better genetics for heat tolerance.”