Mr Manod Williams BSc Agriculture with Animal Science (AU), MSc Livestock Science (AU), PhD Precision Livestock Farming (AU), PGCTHE (AU)

Mr Manod Williams

Darlithydd mewn Biomilfeddygaeth a Gwyddor Anifeiliaid

Department of Life Sciences

Contact Details

Profile

I graduated with a BSc in Agriculture with Animal Science at IBERS, Aberystwyth University in 2012. I was then fortunate to gain a scholarship from the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol (CCC) to study for an MSc in Livestock Science (completed 2014) followed by a PhD in the livestock sciences again at IBERS (completed 2019). My PhD focused on the development of techniques to automatically identify the behaviour of pasture-based dairy cows using discrete sensors, ultimately to support farmers as a management tool. As part of the CCC scholarship, I was involved in the development of Welsh-medium teaching provision in the field of Livestock Production Systems. I currently teach Livestock Production Systems to all undergraduate FdSc and BSc scheme years as well as MSc students. I also contribute to several other modules including Livestock Nutrition, Critical Review and Research Methods.  

Teaching

Module Coordinator
Tutor
Coordinator
Grader
Lecturer
Course Viewer
Moderator

Research

My research interests lie in the area of Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) techniques to assist farmers in the management of their livestock. PLF is already contributing to the management of livestock at farm level, allowing farmers, veterinary practitioners and others involved to get more information on how their animals are behaving and performing. With this information, it may be possible to identify issues earlier, including issues leading to poor performance and welfare. 

Responsibilities

I coordinate and teach on several undergraduate and postgraduate modules with a focus on Livestock Production Systems at the Department of Life Sciences. I am an admissions tutor for Department of Life Sciences D-schemes and I also co-coordinate the Department of Life Sciences Peer Guide Scheme. 

Research Groups

  • Sustainable Grassland Systems and Agri-Food

Publications

Williams, M & Zhan Lai, S 2022, 'Classification of dairy cow excretory events using a tail-mounted accelerometer', Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, vol. 199, 107187. 10.1016/j.compag.2022.107187
Williams, M, Davis, CN, Jones, DL, Davies, ES, Vasina, P, Cutress, D, Rose, MT, Jones, RA & Williams, HW 2021, 'Lying behaviour of housed and outdoor-managed pregnant sheep', Applied Animal Behaviour Science, vol. 241, 105370. 10.1016/j.applanim.2021.105370
Jones, RA, Davis, CN, Jones, DL, Tyson, F, Davies, E, Cutress, D, Brophy, PM, Rose, MT, Williams, M & Williams, HW 2021, 'Temporal dynamics of trematode intermediate snail host environmental DNA in small water body habitats', Parasitology, vol. 148, no. 12, pp. 1490-1496. 10.1017/S0031182021001104
Davis, C, Tyson, F, Cutress, D, Davies, E, Jones, D, Brophy, P, Prescott, A, Rose, M, Williams, M, Williams, H & Jones, R 2020, 'Rapid detection of Galba truncatula in water sources on pasture-land using loop-mediated isothermal amplification for control of trematode infections', Parasites & Vectors, vol. 13, no. 1, 496. 10.1186/s13071-020-04371-0
Williams, M, James, WP & Rose, M 2019, 'Variable segmentation and ensemble classifiers for predicting dairy cow behaviour', Biosystems Engineering, vol. 178, pp. 156-167. 10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2018.11.011
More publications on the Research Portal