DrJessica Rickard

BAnVetBioSc (Hons) PhD

Following the completion of her PhD in 2014, Dr Rickard undertook a number of post-doctoral research positions at the University of Sydney. She has worked on a wide variety of projects related to applied artificial reproductive technologies in sheep such as; the commercialisation of sexed ram semen, the effect of heat stress on the Merino ewe, the use of transrectal ultrasound to assess early embryo loss, the role of Melatonin in advancing the ram breeding season, the use of on-animal sensors to assess ram mating behaviour and factors affecting the survival of liquid stored ram spermatozoa. She is currently the McCaughey Senior Research Fellow at the University of Sydney and is leading a research program investigating factors affecting the success of artificial insemination within the Australian sheep industry. She is also continuing the work of her PhD, which focused on the role of ram seminal plasma, using a combined transcriptomic and proteomic approach to identify molecular sperm traits responsible for improved sperm survival and fertility in the ovine cervix.

She is currently serving as a board director for Merinolink Pty Ltd and is an executive committee member of the International Congress of Animal Reproduction