Bo Donegan currently serves as the executive director of the American Lamb Board. He has been associated with the lamb industry in various capacities for the past 6 years. Prior to this, he served as the Chief Financial Officer with the Cattlemen's Beef Board. He has owned and managed restaurants and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Nick Forrest, his wife and seven children run a sheep operation near Oxford, Ohio. Nick is a member of the American Lamb Board representing small producers with 100 sheep or less. He also works for the Kroger Supermarket chain where he has worked as a meat cutter, deli manager and now a bakery manager for over 27 years.
Professor of Animal Sciences, grew up in the rural community of Mineral Point in southwestern Wisconsin . He raised and exhibited purebred Hampshire sheep through high school and college. He earned the B.Ss degree in Meat and Animal Science from UW–Madison in 1971. While at UW he was Chancellor of the Babcock Chapter of Alpha Zeta, an officer in the Saddle and Sirloin Club, and a member of the Meat Animal Evaluation Team. From 1971 to 1973, he and his wife served as U.S. Peace Corps Volunteers in Kenya where he worked in animal husbandry extension. Dr. Thomas received both the M.S. (1975) and Ph.D. (1977) degrees in Animal Breeding from Oklahoma State University . Prior to joining the faculty at Madison in 1991, he served on the faculties at Oregon State University (1977-81) and the University of Illinois (1981-91). At UW–Madison, he has an appointment in research, teaching, and extension. His research deals with the genetic improvement of performance traits in sheep, sheep management, and sheep dairying. He has been recognized for his research accomplishments by the American Society of Animal Science with the Rockefeller Prentice Memorial Award in Animal Breeding and Genetics in 2003 and the Animal Management Award, awarded jointly with his research colleague, Yves Berger, in 2004. Dr. Thomas teaches Sheep Production (AnSci 430) and co-teaches Introduction to Animal and Veterinary Genetics (AnSci/DySci 361) and Principles of Animal Breeding (AnSci/DySci 363). He also gives a few lectures each year in Livestock Production (AnSci/DySci 101) and Livestock Production and Health in Agricultural Development (AnSci/DySci/AHABS 370). He serves as the Wisconsin Sheep Extension Specialist. He has worked on livestock development projects in Kenya , Bulgaria , Indonesia , Pakistan , Ethiopia , Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , and Uzbekistan . He and his wife, Lynda, have three children and two grandchildren. In his spare time, he enjoys gardening, tracing family genealogy, and traveling.
David Notter is Professor of Animal and Poultry Sciences at Virginia Tech. He has a B.S. degree in Animal Science from The Ohio State University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Animal Breeding from the University of Nebraska . He has been involved in studies of seasonal reproduction in sheep for over 25 years, including a long-term selection experiment to reduce seasonality that was initiated in 1988. He also coordinates the genetic evaluation center for the U.S. National Sheep Improvement Program, providing EPDs for seven American sheep breeds. Other areas of research and service include livestock genetic resource management and conservation and the development of improved hair sheep germplasm.