New President for the Sheep Veterinary Society

Rebecca Mearns became the new President of the Sheep Veterinary Society during the Autumn Conference held 20 to 22 September 2021 held in Cheltenham.  Rebecca takes over the role from Amanda Carson who becomes Senior Vice President as Nick Hart retires from the committee. Joining the officials is new Junior Vice President David Wilson.

Rebecca has been a member of Sheep Veterinary Society since her final year at vet school. She has run her own small sheep flock for almost 20 years.

Rebecca graduated from Cambridge University in 1998 and spent time in mixed practice before undertaking a role in the southern districts of Malawi with Voluntary Service Overseas. On return, Rebecca undertook the RCVS Certificate in Sheep Health and Production in 2004 whilst in mixed practice in Cumbria, before spending over 10 years as a Veterinary Investigation Officer firstly for SAC in Edinburgh and then for APHA at the Penrith site. During and since this time Rebecca has co-authored several publications and developed collaborations with scientists working on key diseases affecting sheep. She served on the SVS Executive Committee from 2013 to 2015 and acted as representative on the Sheep Health and Welfare Group (SHAWG). In 2015 Rebecca joined Biobest Laboratories and has led on sheep diagnostics, including launching the Moredun-developed sheep scab ELISA blood test. She is an external member of the APHA Small Ruminant Species Expert Group and is a RCVS Advanced Practitioner in Sheep Health and Production.