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Despite growing up with a dream of becoming veterinary surgeon, Emma Dair says that when she discovered a talent for technology it just “clicked”. She was strong at maths at school but didn’t like statistics. However, when she was able to apply statistics to animals it kept her passion alive.
Emma grew up on a dairy farm in England where they also had horses. She studied equine biomechanics which looks at how horses move, how they are put together and treating injuries. Emma moved to Ireland 20 years ago to take up a job with the Department of Agriculture in Clonakilty.
“When I came out of college I basically moved to Ireland. A job came up in the Department of Agriculture; a six-month contract in Clonakilty doing calf registrations. I was there 16 years. It really changed my direction. It was still all cattle based but I got more into the IT side and it just clicked.”
In England they didn’t have a sheep movement monitoring system, it was paper based
When the Department won a contract to design the database behind the English sheep movement monitoring system Emma was chosen to be on the team.
“In England they didn’t have a sheep movement monitoring system, it was paper based. I was shipped for three days a week over to Milton Keyes to design the database. Doing that, I learned how to code, logical thinking and making the connection between what the customer wants and what the IT solution needed to deliver.”
ICBF
Four years ago Emma was offered a job as a data analyst and quality manager with ICBF. Her job is to make sure that results produced by ICBF figures are accurate.
“That’s what I got called into doing – making sure our evaluations were the best they could be, to give that transparency and to give the customer that confidence in that evaluation. I manage the data, the genetics team go and do their own role and then I go and do what I need to do.
It has a business element but has that agri element it’s what I love
"That’s grown in the last couple of years. I’m doing a master’s at the moment and my thesis is on genetic evaluation in the dairy industry. I’m doing that in Wateford IT; it’s a master’s degree in business excellence focusing on lean practices. It has a business element but has that agri element it’s what I love.”
Emma added on a course on animal breeding and genetics to get a better understanding of how genetics and evaluations work.
Audit
Emma’s career in technology has led her to carrying out audits on the system used in other countries. ICAR, which is based in Rome, is the umbrella body in charge of audits and making sure everyone complies with the same standards. Emma does these audits on a voluntary basis and she says it helps her to prepare for when ICBF is audited at home.
In Latvia, I was there for three or four days auditing the milk recording in goats, sheep and cattle
“I went to audit the department of agriculture in Latvia to see how they are managing their system. Auditing shows how far ahead we are in Ireland, with the national database for cattle.
“In Latvia, I was there for three or four days auditing the milk recording in goats, sheep and cattle. So you ask to go see animals being milk recorded on farm. We went to see goats being milked. You look for their documentation and ask how animals are recorded on the database. You go through it step by step. You have a booklet from ICAR on what you are auditing them for and a list of questions relevant to what you are recording.”
Audits are compulsory every two years in Emma’s line of work and every five years the auditor makes a visit in person.
Women in technology
Getting more women involved in Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) jobs is important to Emma.
“I think we need to target younger ladies in secondary school to go down the STEM route. If you’re doing a course and after a year you don’t like it, change and change again. You have to do something you’re happy in. Don’t be afraid to step outside the box and do something that a woman wouldn’t necessarily have done years ago.
The area of agri statistics is male dominated, which Emma says can bring its own challenges
"Do what you want to do, follow your heart. Get engaged younger and get parents engaged so that they know ‘it’s OK for her to be an engineer’.”
The area of agri statistics is male dominated, which Emma says can bring its own challenges. However, there are more women moving into this field, which is both encouraging and exciting.
Her advice to other women in other male-dominated industries is not to take the obvious option of being aggressive to be equal.
“By utilising confidence in your own abilities to shape a positive outcome where challenges may arise, respect is always more powerful than anything else.”
Passion
Emma’s passion for life, animals and wanting to be good at something has been her biggest skill, she says. Learning and gaining new skills is also one of her top priorities. This year, she is doing a master’s and she hopes to start a PhD soon. Learning new things and working in different environments is important in a career, she says.
“It’s not good to leave college, go into a job and stay in it. You never learn other business dynamics, moving is a good idea because you meet new people and grow in a different direction.”
Outside of working hours, Emma keeps her passion for animals alive by taking part in dressage competitions and farming with her partner John, who is a geneticist and dairy farmer.
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