Dr. Amy K. McLean has had a life long passion for equids with long ears! She grew up on a donkey and mule farm in Georgia. She has devoted her professional career to conducting donkey and mule research that focuses on improved management and well being of these animals. McLean is an Assistant Professor in Teaching of Equine Science in the Department of Animal Science at the University of California Davis. She earned her Ph.D. from Michigan State University in the area of equine science where she studied methods to improve working donkey welfare in Mali, West Africa. She earned her Masters of Science with a focus in Reproduction Physiology from the University of Georgia. She has conducted research with donkeys, mules, and hinnies in many countries publishing 45 + articles plus 6 book chapters with a continued focus of improving welfare of mules and donkeys with the idea that improving their welfare will only help improve the welfare of the families they work for. In 2023, she was named the 5th most published researcher for donkeys in the world. She hopes the research and information she can provide to the industry will help others with this underestimated population of equids. In McLean's spare time her hobby is focused on breeding and showing performance mules and donkeys on a national level where she has won many world titles competing in events you may only think a horse could accomplish such as jumping, dressage, reining and driving.Francisco Javier Navas González is a Veterinarian/Zootechnician specialized in quantitative and molecular genetics, biostatistics, and phenogenomics graduated at the Veterinary Sciences Faculty of the University of Córdoba (UCO) in 2010. Coordinator of the international Worldwide Donkey Breeds Project (47 countries), fostering global collaboration for the conservation and sustainable development of donkey genetic resources. Research line has focused on Breeding and Conservation of Endangered and Autochthonous Animal Populations. MSc in Zootechnics in 2012 and Sustainable Management and a Ph.D. in Natural Resources and Sustainable Management (University of Córdoba, 2019, Cum Laude, International Mention). Currently, Ramón y Cajal Postdoctoral Researcher (UCO, 2023), with previous appointments at Andalusian Institute for Research and Training in Agriculture, Fishery, Food and Ecological Production (IFAPA) and research collaborations with more than 10 international Universities including UC Davis (USA) and UAB (Spain). Lecturer at the degrees of Biological Sciences and Veterinary Sciences in UCO. Recipient of the Early Career Scientist Awards (2019, 2021) and the Extraordinary Doctoral Award (2019). Author of 107 WOS-indexed publications (76 open access), with an h-index of 22. Supervisor of 11 Ph.D. theses and contributor to more than €996K in competitive and innovation research projects. Active participant in 52 scientific meetings, delivering 173 communications (86 oral, 13 invited, 74 posters).Dr. Erin L. Goodrich is a 2008 graduate of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell, and a 2004 Animal Science graduate of the Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She practiced veterinary medicine in two mixed animal practices in central New York before joining Cornell’s Animal Health Diagnostic Center (AHDC) in December of 2013, where she is currently Director of the Veterinary Support Services team. In 2017, she became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine (ACVPM). In her current role, she works to provide diagnostic support to veterinarians in their daily encounters with disease outbreaks, control and surveillance. She teaches courses in the veterinary curriculum to third and fourth-year students about diagnostics as well as veterinary care, welfare and management issues of donkeys-- her favorite species. In her current role, she also combines her proficiency in infectious disease, preventive medicine and diagnostic testing modalities with her practical expertise in donkeys to perform research that can be utilized to improve donkey care and welfare.
