Gordon Atkins

Biography

Gordon was born and raised on a dairy farm near Calgary, AB, graduated with distinction from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in 1973 and has practiced dairy veterinary medicine in Alberta for the past 35 years. His main area of interest has involved all aspects of dairy herd health with particular emphasis on nutrition, cow comfort, reproductive performance and a special interest in bovine gastrointestinal surgery and has presented numerous seminars on this topic. He remains active in the Holstein business as a breeder and exhibitor at many shows, an Official Judge and member of the Type Classification Advisory Committee for Holstein Canada, and Past President of the Southern Alberta Holstein Club and Calgary Stampede Dairy Committee. In conjunction with Holstein Canada, he produced the DVD, 'Functional Conformation' which highlights the importance of good function conformation in dairy cattle. He served as a Board Member with the Alberta Natural Resources Conservation Board and chaired numerous Board review panels regarding development or expansion of both the confined feeding industry and the non-energy natural resource industry in Alberta. He served as a Board Member with VIDO, the Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Organization at the University of Saskatchewan. Gordon joined the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Calgary in Sept 2008.