LAURIE ROBERT PIPER

Laurie Piper graduated from The University of New England as a BRurSc in 1962. He then joined CSIRO as an Experimental Officer in the Division of Animal Genetics and worked at Gilruth Plains, Cunamulla until 1967 when he was transferred to North Ryde. Laurie undertook his postgraduate training at Edinburgh between 1968 -1971 under the supervision of Professor Alan Robertson. He returned to Australia to continue work in CSIRO Division of Animal Genetics and later the Division of Animal Production. Laurie moved to Armidale in 1976 and remained working there in various research and managerial capacities until 1993 when he was appointed to be the Director of the CRC for Premium Quality Wool. He remained in that role until 1997 when he returned to active research as a Chief Research Scientist within CSIRO Division of Animal Production.

Laurie is recognised nationally and internationally in the field of quantitative genetics and sheep and beef cattle breeding. His research studies focused on wool production and quality, reproduction, parasite resistance and in more recent times on aquaculture. The results have made a significant contribution to the development of national breeding programs for improving economic performance in wool and meat producing sheep. Of particular importance has been Laurie's work in the area of major genes and with Bernie Bindon, he will be remembered for identifying the Boorola gene in Merino sheep. This discovery changed the prevailing view of the nature of quantitative genetic variation and has been followed by the discovery of major genes affecting a wide range of economically important production traits in all of the domestic livestock species.

The quality of Laurie's research achievements have been recognised by the award of the Helen Newton Turner Medal in 1995 for outstanding contributions to the genetic improvement of Australian livestock, and by the award in 1997 of the Cheilain Medal for contributions to the wool industry.

Laurie has been a regular contributor to the AAABG since its inception in 1979, and was the Chairman of the Organising Committee of the 6th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production which was held in Armidale, NSW in 1998.