Alastair Lamont

Studying for Doctor of Philosophy

Area of study:
Estimation of genetic breeding values: Development of a missing data approach, with comparison to established literature models

Supervisor: Matthew Schofield—

Email: alamont@maths.otago.ac.nz  

Thesis

Title:

Estimation of genetic breeding values: Development of a missing data approach, with comparison to established literature models

Supervisor: Dr Matthew Schofield, Prof Richard Barker

Previous degrees: BSc (Otago)

In livestock populations efficient identification of the most valuable animals is essential. Historically modelling had relied upon known pedigrees, but the growing availability of genetic measurements has allowed for more accurate models to be developed.

There exists a very large amount of data which is available, and thus balancing computational efficiency with accuracy of estimation is a key consideration. Assumptions in many common models have not been fully investigated for their effects upon accuracy. We are developing an alternative approach, and aim to test this against pre-existing models to compare both accuracy and speed.