Animal Health Canada Staff Members

Building on an animal science degree from the University of Guelph, John has been privileged to work with Canada’s livestock, poultry and equine sectors for almost 50 years. He has provided strategic planning, program delivery, governance and financial management guidance to a wide range of government and non-governmental organizations. John has been actively engaged in the animal health file for many years including supporting the establishment of the National Farmed Animal Health and Welfare Council and its transition to Animal Health Canada. He is a former industry co-chair of the African Swine Fever Executive Management Board.

An active volunteer, John serves on the boards of the Canadian Poultry Research Council and the Therapeutic Riding Association of Ottawa Carleton (TROtt).

Samantha joined the NFAHW Council, now Animal Health Canada, in 2011, shortly after its inception. Prior to this, she worked for 13 years as an instructional designer and coordinator for the Bank of Montreal at their Institute for Learning. She lives on a hobby farm in Muskoka, Ontario's cottage country, with her husband, two kids and horses.                                                                                    

Samantha obtained a B.A. from the University of Western Ontario in Anthropology, and having grown up in Montreal, also attended CEGEP at John Abbott’s College in the West Island of Montreal. 

Nicole joined the NFAHW Council, now AHC, as a Senior Bookkeeper in April 2020. Nicole has over 20 years’ experience in the bookkeeping field across a variety of industries. Her role is to establish and maintain the financial records, support the work of AHC and its divisions, as well as ensuring that the efficient financial processes are well documented. 

Nicole was born and raised in Victoria, Australia where she studied Business Administration. She is also a Certified Health Information Manager (CHIM). 

Nicole, her husband, Michael and 16 year old daughter Mia, have two dogs, a Shitzu/poodle cross, named Panda and an Australian Cobberdog, named Cobber (Australian slang for Best Mate). She really enjoys entertaining, watching movies, as well as travelling, hiking, tennis and cooking.

Doris Leung has been a part of the Canadian Animal Health Surveillance System (CAHSS) since 2020. She received her DVM (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine) from the Ontario Veterinary College and MPH (Master of Public Health) from the University of British Columbia. Doris is excited to utilize her knowledge in health communication, veterinary epidemiology, and disease surveillance to create knowledge translation pieces to engage with CAHSS members, foster collaboration, and to promote evidence-based decision making to advance animal health and surveillance in Canada. She currently resides in Vancouver, BC.

Murray grew up on his family’s dairy farm in Sussex, New Brunswick. He completed his undergraduate degree in agriculture and animal science from the Nova Scotia Agricultural College before completing his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the Atlantic Veterinary College in Prince Edward Island. After graduating, Murray spent two years in New Zealand in a dairy focused clinic before moving back to New Brunswick where he worked for the Government of New Brunswick in large animal practice, and with the veterinary pharmaceutical company Vetoquinol as a technical services veterinarian. He is past president of the Canadian Association of Bovine Veterinarians and the current District 12 director for the American Association of Bovine Practitioners. Murray has been an active member of the Canadian Animal Health Surveillance System Dairy and the AMU/AMR surveillance networks.

Murray is currently working on a Master’s in health management and public health at the Atlantic Veterinary College with a project focusing on antimicrobial use on dairy farms. He was the dairy subject matter expert for the Canadian Veterinary Medical Associations Stewardship of Antimicrobial use by Veterinarians Initiative (SAVI) in 2018 and 2022. He remains very active in the day-to-day operations of his family’s dairy farm, where they have implemented many of the SAVI recommendations and guidelines successfully, including zero-zero calf care, selective dry cow therapy, and following the prudent use guidelines for treatments when necessary.

Murray is very passionate about the Canadian bovine veterinary, dairy, and agricultural sectors and loves discussing dairy practice, bovine veterinary medicine, and science in general and can be reached to discuss these topics at any time. Other interests include video games, anime, nature, hiking, and history.

Dr. Emma Gardner is a veterinarian and epidemiologist with expertise in animal health surveillance. She has a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Guelph, Canada, and a master’s degree in Conservation Medicine from Tufts University. She has worked in small and mixed animal private practice in both urban and rural settings in Ontario.

Most recently, Dr. Gardner served as a Veterinary Epidemiologist and Project Coordinator with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). With the FAO she has also served as a coordinator for the Emergency Management Centre (EMC), where her responsibilities included leading and coordinating response actions and field deployment for animal health emergencies. She has recently worked with CAHSS in providing guidance on strengthening surveillance for animal health emergency scenarios.

In her spare time, Emma enjoys being outdoors with her family and friends.

Talia Strang has a BSc in Health Sciences and a Master of Public Health from Simon Fraser University. Her professional interests are One Health, communicable disease surveillance, and knowledge translation and transfer.

Erica holds a Bachelor of Science, Biology from the University of Guelph and spent the first portion of her career in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical manufacturing in various quality assurance roles. In 2006, Erica became the Technical Director for the Canadian Poultry & Egg Processors Council (CPEPC), where she was responsible for technical files namely in areas of food safety, animal welfare and animal health. She was the members’ liaison point of contact with CFIA and Health Canada on technical matters and represented the interests of CPEPC on multiple domestic joint industry/government initiatives and also internationally. With 17 years of experience in the poultry industry, Erica brings knowledge and experience gained through multiple outbreaks of Avian Influenza.

Erica is based in Brockville, Ontario where she shares her home with a dog and two cats.

Kemi is an internationally trained veterinarian and holds a master’s degree in Population Medicine (Epidemiology with an applied clinical research specialty). She has experience in animal disease management and public health and is excited to use her knowledge and skills in veterinary medicine, epidemiology and project management. Her passion for animal health and welfare is greatly influenced by her professional background where she has hands on experience working to mitigate the effect of emerging animal diseases like FMD and HPAI, as well as other One Health disease threats. Kemi has been working with the Canadian Animal Health Surveillance System (CAHSS) and the African swine fever Executive Management Board (ASF EMB) as a One Health Intern in collaboration with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Michelle started her career in livestock production systems working in the pork industry. She then held leadership roles in livestock production research and technology transfer, animal welfare and livestock traceability portfolios with the Government of Alberta ministry of agriculture. Michelle is excited to work with the livestock industry and government to plan and prepare for reportable livestock disease events in Canada.

Michelle obtained a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the University of Saskatchewan and Master of Science in Agriculture from the University of Guelph.

Kori Maki-Adair is an emergency management and learning development specialist that joined Animal Health Canada (AHC) equipped with more than a decade of senior-level experience in educational communications, stakeholder relations, research, project and event facilitation in the agriculture and agri-food sector.

With a career focused on issues and risk, health, safety and crisis management, Kori prepared for her position with AHC through a variety of mission-critical roles supporting industry, federal, provincial, territorial and municipal partners that provide essential programs, resources and services to Canadians—including seven years in strategic communications as an industry-government liaison for the national livestock traceability system for beef and dairy cattle, bison, sheep, goats and cervid.

Kori applies her BA (Honours English), surgical nursing background and field deployment as an active Canadian Red Cross Reservist to inform and level-up her science, tech and training-based skills and responsibilities with AHC.

As a proud member of the Cree Métis Nation, Kori feels fortunate to live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani); the Tsuut’ina; the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations; the Métis Nation (Region 3); and all people who make their homes in the Treaty 7 lands of Southern Alberta.

Temidayo Adewole has spent the past six years working as the Technical Expert Lead for the Nova Scotia Meat Inspection Program, including leading the Nova Scotia CanSpotASF Abattoir Surveillance project and working with industry on the development and implementation of an Operational Contingency Plan for Animal Disease Emergency Response for provincial abattoirs in Nova Scotia in collaboration with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. He has acted as the chair of various national technical working groups, including the Federal-Provincial Animal Welfare Working Group and Canadian Meat Inspection Network, and participated in over 15 other national/provincial technical working groups on disease prevention and control and various projects focused on designing strategies to secure Canadian meat inspection, food safety, public health, and animal welfare. Before joining the Nova Scotia Government, Temidayo served as an Animal Protection Officer in the Office of the Chief Veterinarian and worked as an Agri-Food Inspector and Health Officer for the Food Safety and Animal Welfare Divisions of Manitoba Agriculture.

Temidayo’s educational background includes a foreign veterinary degree, a master’s degree in veterinary pharmacology, a postgraduate diploma in Quality Assurance and Quality Control in the Food and Pharmaceutical Industries, certifications in Incident Command Systems 100 & 200; Emergency Management for Agriculture; Emergency Response Preparedness; Design Thinking and Tools for Innovation; Applying Behavioural Insights to Improve Policy, Programs, and Services; Public Sector Innovation; Occupational Health and Safety; Project Management; Change Management; Leading with LEADS Framework; Diversity and Inclusion Development; Collaboration for Building Partnerships; Strategies for Partnering with Clients; and Lean Six Sigma (Yellow Belt).

Jackie Wepruk has been the General Manager of the National Farm Animal Care
Council (NFACC) since its inception in 2005. In this capacity she facilitates a
partnership on NFACC between governments, farmed animal industries, the
veterinary community, the humane movement, food companies, and other allied
groups. She assists NFACC’s partners in achieving practical solutions to farm
animal welfare concerns that address the interests of farmers, domestic and
export markets, governments and the Canadian public.

Jackie obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University
of Winnipeg, and a Master of Environmental Design from the University of
Calgary.

Tanya Frye is a communications professional with 20 years' work experience within provincial and municipal government and not-for-profit organizations. She has spent 10 of those years working within the animal health community. Tanya has an educational background in graphic design and public relations. In 2022, she completed a Change Management Program at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business. She looks forward to using her love for communications planning and building relationships to support Animal Health Canada's strategic goals.