Ariane France Position/Title: Ph.D. Student email: afrance@uoguelph.ca Phone: 613-677-5088 Office: ANNU 218 LinkedIn

I am currently a Ph.D. student in Dairy Health and Welfare under the supervision of Dr. Trevor DeVries. I completed three years of my undergraduate degree at McGill University https://www.mcgill.ca/macdonald/ in Animal Science, before transferring to the University of Guelph and obtaining my B. Sc. Agr. Honors with a major in Animal Science. I am a certified agrologist with the Ordre des Agronomes du Québec https://oaq.qc.ca/. My passion for agriculture and dairy cattle evolved from growing up on a hobby farm, participating in 4-H and from working in the dairy industry. This, paired with my desire to learn and gain more knowledge led me to pursuing graduate studies in Dr. DeVries' lab. 

My research is primarily focused on dairy cattle health, looking at the incidence of mastitis in cows milked with automatic milking systems (AMS). With the rise in popularity of AMS in Canada, the need for research regarding which management practices can help mitigate mastitis in AMS herds is becoming more important. Mastitis is a prevalent disease on Canadian dairy farms, being both a concern for dairy cattle welfare and a cause of substantial economical losses for producers. In addition, the need to reduce the quantity of prophylactic antimicrobials as dry cow therapy is more important than ever, with the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria. One of the critical periods in a cow's lactation for preventing new intramammary infections, or to help cure existing ones, is the dry period. That is why the focus of my research if on trying to understand what management practices are best for improving cow health and productivity around the dry period.

In my free time, I like to spend time working on my hobby farm, cooking, riding horses, showing cows or running. I would like to work in the dairy industry once I complete my studies, always staying close to my four-legged friends and being a proud advocate for dairy and agriculture.