In 2023 I joined the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences (SAVS), bringing 32 years of experience in mixed veterinary practice, academia, diagnostic laboratories, government and industry. My role in SAVS comprises a balance of research, teaching and clinical service in the Roseworthy Veterinary Hospital's Pathology Laboratory. The constant themes of my career have been improving the health of farm animals, protecting public health and enhancing food security. Subthemes included veterinary pathology, pathogenesis of infectious diseases, immunology, laboratory diagnostics, vaccinology and biosecurity. My experiences have given me unique skills and perspectives about how emerging scientific knowledge and advanced technologies can be applied systematically and to deliver solutions that have real world impact. Animal agriculture is important because animal protein is the rate limiting resource for human development. Indeed, the current period of rapid human development is fed by cheap animal protein from industrialized agriculture. The Roseworthy campus lies in the middle of a major grain growing region and is surrounded by pig and poultry farms. Consequently, SAVS’s is well placed to be the leading centre for intensive animal agriculture in Australasia, complementing SAVS's strengths in dryland ruminant animal science. My recent professional activities have included serving on the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries Animal Trade Advisory Council, the New Zealand Poultry Exporters Stakeholders + Ministry for Primary Industries working group, and the Poultry Industry Association of New Zealand (PIANZ) and Egg Producers Federation (EPF) VetTech Committee.