Philip Edward Vercoe
BRurSc (Hons) (University of New England), PhD (University of New England)
Philip Vercoe attended the University of New England (UNE) from where he graduated in Rural Science (Honours I) and gained his doctorate in 1992. His PhD thesis on the structure and function of endoglucanase genes in rumen bacteria signalled a long and productive career in rumen microbiology and the central role they play in developing “clean, green and ethical” livestock production systems. He went on to post-doctoral positions at the AFRC Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics Research (Babraham, Cambridge, UK) and the Department of Animal Science, University of Illinois (USA).
In 1995, Dr Vercoe returned to Australia to take up a lectureship in Animal Science at the University of Western Australia (UWA). He reached the level of Professor in 2013. At UWA, he has served in many administrative positions, including Deputy Head of the School of Agriculture and Environment, Deputy Head of School of Animal Biology, Associate Director and Programme Leader of Animal Production in the UWA Institute of Agriculture, Deputy Dean and Coordinator of major undergraduate programs, in Animal Science, Wildlife Management, Genetics and Breeding, and Natural Resource Management. During his time at UWA, Professor Vercoe has also been a productive researcher and a mentor for postgraduate and undergraduate students. He has supervised 17 PhD students and over 70 Honours and MSc students to completion. Three of his PhD students won the Science and Innovation Awards from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Professor Vercoe has, to date, produced 100+ peer-reviewed papers in international journals, 5 scholarly book chapters, and edited 7 books and conference proceedings. He has presented more than 50 papers at major conferences spanning the broad discipline of animals in agricultural systems.
Since being appointed to UWA, his research has focussed on extensively-managed sheep and cattle grazing systems. His work has consistently targeted optimisation of interactions among genotype, environment and management, with a view to balancing productivity with environmental impact. Over the past 25 years, a substantial focus has been the big issue of our time – mitigation of ruminant methane emissions by manipulation of the feedbase, exploration of the anti-methanogenic properties of plant secondary compounds in Australian native plants, and evaluation of the potential for genetic selection.
His research has always been driven by future needs of industry as was the research of his late father, John Vercoe, who became a Fellow in 1994. In particular, Phil has recognised the value of collaborating to deliver practical solutions to industry as quickly as possible, which is reflected in his leadership roles in the following industry-focussed projects: he co-designed, -led and -delivered the Enrich (2004-09) project, a component of the Future Farm Industries CRC, which won the 2013 Australian Museum Eureka Award for Sustainable Agriculture; Project Leader of six large collaborative projects in the Reducing Emissions from Livestock Research Program (2009-12) and the National Livestock Methane Program (2012-15); Program Leader of the International Coordination of the Rumen Pangenome program (2016-18); Program Leader of the BeefLinks program (2018–2024); and most recently as Program Leader for Program 2 (Towards methane-free sheep and cattle) in the Zero Net Emissions from Agriculture Cooperative Research Centre (2023–). The outcomes from these projects will help producers meet the challenge of climate change and licence to operate. For example, the Enrich project changed the way we value native Australian shrubs in our grazing systems by demonstrating their use in multi-purpose diverse mixes and recognising the animal’s ability to thrive on diversity. His work in the large national methane programs led to the identification of highly antimethanogenic Australian native plants (eg. Eremophila sp.) and pasture species (eg. Biserrula sp) in both northern and southern grazing systems; the plant secondary compounds responsible for the antimethanogenesis and their mechanisms of action; and the use of these plants in novel diverse shrub-based systems for extensively grazed livestock that are both productive and reduce methane emissions; a novel short-term method to measure methane production from large numbers of individual animals to improve our ability to select for low methane genotypes (eg. the ‘Portable Accumulation Chamber’) that has been used widely in Australia and New Zealand; and new ways to consider how we select animals for reducing methane emissions based on better understanding the interaction between genes influencing efficiency within the host, within the ruminal microbiome, and between the host and ruminal microbiome. His research in the BeefLinks program is some of the first to link DNA metabarcoding of dung samples to animal movement, to understand grazing behaviour of cattle in Australian rangelands, as well as demonstrating, at scale, the potential to use virtual fencing technology to manage free-ranging cattle in Australian rangelands more intensively.
Professor Vercoe’s career in animal production R&D has involved collaboration with many institutions, locally, nationally and internationally. Most notable has been his collaboration with the FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture (Vienna, Austria).
He has served the community for animal production science in many ways. He has been a strong supporter and contributor to ASAP/AAAS as a Committee Member (1995-2005), Vice President (1997) and President (1998-1999) of the WA branch of the Australian Society of Animal Production (ASAP). In 2006 he presented the Reginald John Moir Memorial Lecture at 26th Biennial Conference of the Australian Society of Animal Production. In 2016, he became involved in editing of the journal Animal (Elsevier) and became Section Editor for Section 2B: Ruminant Nutrition in 2018. On several occasions, he has been an editor for the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics, editing the Proceedings of the 13th Biennial Conference in 1999. For Springer publishing, he co-edited three volumes: i) Managing prenatal development to enhance livestock productivity: ii) In vitro screening of plant resources for extra-nutritional attributes in ruminants: nuclear and related technologies: and iii) Measurement of methane production from ruminants’.
In recognition of his genuine commitment to the animal industries of Australia, and his significant contribution to research, education and leadership, the Australian Association of Animal Sciences is pleased to enrol Professor Philip Vercoe as a Fellow.