QA Speaker Bio’s

Dr. Nancy Reimers – Biosecurity: Self-Auditing Your Farm

Dr. Nancy Reimers graduated from UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 2001. She then completed a joint Poultry Health Management Residency and Masters of Specialized Veterinary Medicine Program at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Reimers is a Diplomate of the American College of Poultry Veterinarians. She works in private practice for Cutler Associates, one of the largest poultry health consulting practices in the country.

Dr. Nancy Hinkle – Vector Control

Dr. Nancy Hinkle is the University of Georgia’s Veterinary Entomologist. Her research covers insects and their eight-legged relatives that parasitize or transmit disease organisms to animals. Her research includes poultry (broilers, breeders, layers, and backyard), livestock, swine, horses, companion animals, and wildlife. Her lab focuses on pests found around poultry – pest flies, northern fowl mites, and darkling beetles.

She received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in medical entomology from Auburn University and her Ph.D. in urban entomology from the University of Florida, working on fleas. She was on the Entomology faculty at the University of California-Riverside for ten years before joining UGA’s Department of Entomology in 2001

Dr. Hinkle authored the “External Parasites and Poultry Pests” chapter in the recently published Diseases of Poultry (12^th edition). She has published dozens of scientific and technical articles (mostly on mites and flies) and authored three chapters in the Encyclopedia of Insects and “Ectoparasites: Fleas and Lice” in the most recent edition of Mallis’ Handbook of Pest Control.

Her current research involves the role of darkling beetles in maintenance and transmission of Salmonella in broiler flocks.

Dr. Richard Breitmeyer – CDFA Update

Dr. Richard Breitmeyer is California State Veterinarian at the Executive level, a position that was created and to which he was appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger in 2004. From 1993 to 2004 Dr. Breitmeyer served as California State Veterinarian as well as Director of Animal Health and Food Safety Services (AHFSS). As Director of AHFSS he oversaw an annual budget of $28 million and 250 employees engaged in programs for animal health, milk and dairy foods control, meat and poultry inspection and livestock identification. He has the statutory authority and responsibility to quarantine domestic animals or food from animal products in order to protect the health and safety of animals and the public. In addition, he has organizational responsibility for homeland security/agroterrorism issues and currently represents the Department on many state and national committees dedicated to protecting our food supply from an intentional terrorist attack and other threats to the food supply. Dr. Breitmeyer earned his undergraduate degree from California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo and his D.V.M and M.P.V.M. degrees from the School of Veterinary Medicine at UCD.

Robert Holmes – Composting Regulations

Robert Holmes is a Senior Integrated Waste Management Specialist with the California Integrated Waste Management Board, which is one of six departments of the California Environmental Protection Agency. He has been with the Board for 18 years where he has served in various capacities. He is currently the Regulations and Legislation Coordinator for the Waste Compliance and Mitigation Program.

Mr. Holmes was one of the authors of a 2004 Cal/EPA Emergency Animal Disease guidance document and is currently the co-chair of the multi-agency Emergency Animal Disposal Work Group that is working to find timely resolutions to issues associated with the disposal of animal tissue.

Dr. Dennis Wilson – Carcass Disposal Table Top Exercise

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