Biosecurity services boosted in Katherine – with new recruit Izzy

The Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade is pleased to welcome Isabell (Izzy) MacPhillamy, to the Livestock Biosecurity team based at the Katherine Research Station.

Izzy will provide biosecurity services to the livestock industries in the Katherine and Barkly regions.

Recently she completed her PhD “Foot-and-mouth disease control in South East Asia: Village-level challenge insights from Cambodia and Laos”, in conjunction with her role as project officer for the Mekong Livestock Research team based at the University of Sydney. In this role she participated in regional World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) South East Asia and China foot-and-mouth disease (SEACFMD) campaign activities as well as developing skills in project management, research design, agricultural development projects as well as teaching. Her thesis has highlighted the need for a strong collaborative approach between veterinary services, researchers and the communities they are working in to develop context-specific biosecurity practices which will be sustainably implemented.

She has also recently attained her Epidemiology memberships from the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists (ANZCVS) and has particular interest in the challenges associated with disease surveillance and outbreak responses in under-resourced settings as well as applied epidemiology, disease control programs, public health and regional biosecurity, and capacity building within teams – so her insight into the resource limited approach to biosecurity and risk management in the northern Australian livestock industry will be valuable.

You can contact Izzy via email: isabel.macphillamy@nt.gov.au