THE 2024 NETWORK WEBINAR SERIES |
"SEPTEMBER WITH SURIS" This three-part series, conducted on the Zoom platform, will focus on strategically important topics including marketing, color genetics and fiber production. The presentations are scheduled for an hour beginning at 8 pm EST and then will include an additional 30 minutes for follow up Q & A session with the presenters. Suri Network Members can enjoy the webinars for free as a benefit of their membership. Non-members must pay $100 for series, but that fee also offers them a Suri Network membership through June 1, 2025. After the series ends, webinar registrants will be able to view the presentations online. Location: The comfort of your home! Speakers: We are excited to have Joe Preston, Kylie Munyard, Nancy Lindemood, and Liz Vahlkamp as our webinar presenters this year. You can view their biographies below. Webinar Schedule: September 18th at 8:00 PM EDST, Kylie Munyard B. Sc. (Hons) PhD will present, "Want To Breed For A Specific Fleece Colour? Understand Your Animals' Colour Genetics". Dr. Munyard is an Associate Professor of Genomics & Bioinformatics, in a combined teaching and research role and is also the Director of Graduate Research in the Curtin Medical School at Curtin University. The focus of her research is alpaca color genetics, through the use of targeted and whole genome sequencing, transcriptomics and genome wide association studies combined with specialized phenotype analyses such as chemical analyses and spectrophotometry. September 25th at 8:00 PM EDST, Nancy Lindemood and Liz Vahlkamp will co-present, "The Story Of Two Fiberpools- Lessons Learned and What To Consider". In 2023, Nancy helped organize KAA’s first regional fiber pool project with a goal to produce high quality local alpaca socks, at a competitive cost and attractive project margin, while also educating members about fiber traits and processing. Liz has been involved in collecting Suri fiber from producers for over 10 years to sell to commercial markets and with her experience in 2023 she organized a fiber pool to allow Suri growers to offer commercial products, made from their own fiber, in their farm stores. Sponsorship: The Suri Network is offering 4sponsorship opportunities for each webinar (12total). The cost for these sponsorships is $200. These are offered on a first come, first serve basis. The deadline for sponsorship is August 11th. To sign up to sponsor one of the webinars, you can either call Cindy Grigg at 970-586-5876, email office@surinetwork.org, or use the following link: OUR SPEAKERS |  OUR SPONSORS! |
Growing up on a farm in rural England, Joe found his way to the U.S. and from urban life as an Architect to doing something he truly loves - helping family farms to be more self-sustaining using his design background to create user-friendly tools that make a real difference in peoples' lives. Joe will share his insights on marketing and sales, along with how Openherd can be leveraged for maximum benefit. By following his 5 rules for marketing and sales and utilizing Openherd’s platform effectively, you can maximize your marketing efforts and drive sales for your business. |
Link: Dr Kylie Munyard | Curtin University Staff Profile Kylie is an Associate Professor of Genomics & Bioinformatics, in a combined teaching and research role and is also the Director of Graduate Research in the Curtin Medical School at Curtin University. The main focus of her research is alpaca colour genetics, through the use of targeted and whole genome sequencing, transcriptomics and genome wide association studies combined with specialised phenotype analyses such as chemical analyses and spectrophotometry. Since 2005 she has worked alongside alpaca owners, breeders, and researchers from all over the world to try to answer the question “How can we breed specific coloured alpacas predictably?”. She was part of the international team that recently released version 3 of the alpaca reference genome. All of her alpaca work is published and there is also a DNA test available worldwide that implements her findings regarding base colour and the classic grey gene. Kylie and her students are currently working on roan, intensity of colour, trying to find the other ASIP alleles(!), and the tuxedo pattern. Kylie is enthusiastic about sharing this research with the alpaca community to help them apply it to their own herds. Recent publications by Kylie and her Team (open access):
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In 2023, she helped establish KAA’s first regional fiber pool project with a goal to produce high quality local alpaca socks, at a competitive cost and attractive project margin, while also educating members about fiber traits and processing. Liz Vahlkamp |
Joe Preston Co-Founder, CEO Openherd
Kylie Munyard B. Sc. (Hons) PhD.jpg)
Nancy Lindemood