Cattle, Climate and Complexity - Webinar

In 2025, VetSalus hosted a webinar for their member practices, consultants & course alumni, to improve understanding of climate change complexity and how veterinarians can make a difference.

On Tuesday 18th November 2025, VetSalus were delighted to welcome guest speaker Dr Ian Lean (BVSc, DVSc, PhD, MACVSc), a leading authority in the medicine, nutrition and management of dairy cattle. Dr Lean has appeared as a keynote speaker at major conferences in Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, UK, Argentina and South Africa, and authored over 200 scientific articles, many of which have been published in internationally-renowned journals. He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Sydney and Managing Director of Scibus, a research and advisory group working with agribusiness, industry, animal pharmaceutical and government organisations in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and North America. 

The presentation explored the complexities of cattle and climate change, and role of the veterinary profession in providing support to livestock producers, which followed an excellent paper that Dr Lean presented at the NZVA Conference in June 2025.

Lewis Griffiths, independent VetSalus director and NZVA member, said of the event:

Having been fortunate to hear Dr Lean’s presentation in person at the NZVA conference earlier this year, both myself and the wider VetSalus team felt strongly that the content needed to be heard by a much wider audience. Cattle veterinarians and paraprofessionals have a unique opportunity to be part of the solution to the climate impacts from agriculture, and we were thrilled to share Dr Lean’s research with colleagues from our member practices.

Dr Ian Lean, Adjunct Professor University of Sydney and Managing Director of Scibus, added:

The societal role of ruminant production is being challenged by ideological & simplified logic without substantiation from robust data-driven science. It was a pleasure to present the complexities of cattle and climate change to veterinary professionals, who are inextricably linked to climate impacts of ruminant production.

VetSalus would like to thank Dr Lean for his excellent presentation and everyone who attended the session ‘live’ for their thoughtful and respectful discussion. To watch the recording, please complete the sign up form on our ‘Resources’ page.

VetSalus provides a wide range of CPD education to veterinarians and paraprofessionals within the agricultural sector. We can provide exclusive cohorts of our online courses, deliver in-person training at a venue to suit you, or help you develop your own educational materials. To find out more about our bespoke education packages, please contact us.