ESR Blog post #3 "Discovering the bovine field" by Julieta D'Augero

Hello everyone, 

I am Julieta Maria D'Augero, ESR 2. Nine months ago, I started my Ph.D. project at the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Sciences with Professor Trudee Fair as my supervisor. My project is about discovering the role of progesterone and its regulation in bovine oocytes during their growth phase. I am based in the Reproductive Physiology Lab on the UCD Lyons Research Farm, Dublin, Ireland. 

As an embryologist working in human IVF Clinics, I had lived and worked in the city, so my first day coming to the UCD Lyons Research Farm was already an entire event! Driving through kilometers of the countryside, having fields, farms, and livestock as part of my commute is fascinating. Once there, the next challenge was to understand the specific vocabulary around this topic; I started to hear about different breeds and procedures and despite the challenges posed by COVID-19 at the start of my project, I did my best to engage with it, and now I can appreciate my development. 

Another difference from humans clinics is that I found myself in close contact with the animals! And it is marvelous!! I can see them and integrate their routine and handling. Working with animals around you pushes you to focus on your aim, so I embrace this privilege every day. I even had the incredible opportunity to participate on a day of embryo transfers on a farm with Professor Patrick Lonergan and his team. I was amazed by the coordinated hard work involved in this process, surrounded by heifers and dung the entire morning! It was one of the best days ever!

This is a little bit of my overall personal experience as a Ph.D. student in this EUROVA project. I am having a great time researching and discovering the bovine field. This adventure pushes me to go even further in this area and take my scientific career to the next level in the future. I am proud and excited to be part of EUROVA team and really enjoy my new work environment.

I will keep you posted on my progress! Bye for now.