Rate My Professor Julius van der Werf

Professor Julius van der Werf is a Professor in Animal Genetics in the School of Environmental and Rural Science at the University of New England. He earned a BAgrSc and MSc in 1984, and a PhD in 1990 from Wageningen University, the Netherlands, and also studied at Cornell University, New York. His professional career started as an Assistant Professor at Wageningen Agricultural University from December 1985 to March 1993. He then served as Senior Researcher in dairy cattle breeding at the National Institute for Animal Science and Health in the Netherlands from April 1993 to December 1996. In 1997, he moved to Armidale as Senior Lecturer in Animal Genetics at the University of New England, progressing to Associate Professor from 2002 to 2006, and Professor since 2007. Notably, he managed the Sheep CRC genetics program from 2003 to 2019, implementing genomic selection in the Australian sheep industry.

Professor van der Werf specializes in quantitative genetics and animal breeding, focusing on genetic parameter estimation using mixed and random regression models, genomic prediction and association studies, and optimization of breeding programs. He has edited influential books including Animal Breeding: Use of New Technologies (2000), Adaptation and Fitness in Animal Populations (2009), and Genome-Wide Association Studies and Genomic Prediction (2013). Among his highly cited papers are "Genetic and statistical properties of residual feed intake" (1993) and "The importance of information on relatives for the prediction of genomic breeding values" (2012). In 2021, he received the Helen Newton Turner Medal for his contributions to animal breeding genetics. He serves as Co-Editor in Chief of Genetics, Selection, and Evolution since 2002 and Associate Editor of the Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics since 2003. Van der Werf has held leadership roles such as President of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics (Australasia) from 2005 to 2007 and continues on the Technical Committee of Sheep Genetics since 2005. He has delivered international postgraduate courses in several countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Finland, and the Netherlands.