Jacob Middelkamp is serving a third year as CPRC Chairman. Mr. Middelkamp is a broiler chicken producer in Alberta. He has been a Director on the Alberta Chicken Producers (ACP) Board for ten years, serving five of those on the Research Committee (three years as Chair) and three on the Quality Committee. He also championed efforts to implement the Chicken Farmers of Canada (CFC) On Farm Food Safety Assurance Program on behalf of ACP. Mr. Middelkamp has represented Alberta on the CFC Board for four years, serving two years on the CFC Food Safety Committee and one year on the Finance Committee. He has been a CPRC Director for the last four years. He also serves on the Steering Committee for the Virtual Centre for Poultry Welfare at Guelph.
Roelof Meijer, a turkey producer from Alberta representing Turkey Farmers of Canada (TFC), is CPRC’s Vice Chairman for a second year in 2011. Mr. Meijer has served on the Alberta Turkey Producers Board for six years and is a Board Director for the Poultry Research Centre at the University of Alberta. Mr. Meijer has also served on the Research Committee for the Alberta Dairy Producers, as well as a special committee assigned to improve information transfer between researchers and industry stakeholders.
Erica Charlton represents the Canadian Poultry and Egg Processors Council (CPEPC) on the CPRC Board. Ms. Charlton has held the position of CPEPC Technical Director for five years and is responsible primarily for technical files for the poultry meat processing companies, and occasionally for the egg processor companies, as required. Ms. Charlton acts as industry/government liaison and is the processor industry’s single point of contact on technical issues with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Health Canada. She is the staff lead on the Poultry Operations Technical Committee. Ms. Charlton’s exposure to technical aspects of poultry meat inspection and food safety give her a unique perspective on issues relating to the CPRC. Ms. Charlton is also a Board member for the Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education and serves on the Canadian Meat Council Technical Committee, Canadian General Standards Board Technical Committee for Organic Agriculture, and the Turkey Farmers of Canada On-Farm Programs Committee.
Cheryl Firby sits at CPRC representing the Canadian Hatching Egg Producers (CHEP). Ms. Firby is the current Chair of CHEP’s Research Committee and is active on other committees. Her responsibilities include management of over ten percent of the hatching egg production in Ontario. Ms. Firby joined the Ontario Broiler Hatching Egg and Chick Commission (OBHECC) in 2007 and shortly afterward became an alternate to CHEP. Cheryl is also a Vice Chair at the Commission.
Dr. Helen Anne Hudson has been CPRC’s Director representing the Egg Farmers of Canada (EFC) since 2007. Dr. Hudson earned both MSc and PhD degrees in poultry science from the University of Georgia. Her education and experience provide a strong background in laying hen rearing, housing and management Dr. Hudson is currently self-employed as a poultry consultant working mainly for Burnbrae Farms. Her 15-year tenure at Burnbrae involves day-to-day farm activities and management of land and properties. Dr. Hudson is Chair of a committee which leads environmental/energy awareness at Burnbrae. Dr. Hudson is actively involved with a number of organizations across Canada relating to poultry research. She is a Director at the Alberta Poultry Research Centre, serves on the Research Committee and HACCP Committee at EFC, is a Director of the Poultry Industry Council (PIC) in Guelph, Ontario, is Chair of the PIC Research Committee, and is a member of the Steering Committee for the Virtual Centre for Poultry Welfare at Guelph.
Bruce Roberts, CPRC's Executive Director, is a native of New Brunswick and has been involved with agriculture for over 30 years. He received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Mount Allison University, took special courses at Nova Scotia Agricultural College in preparation for completing his M.Sc. in Agricultural Economics at the University of Guelph, and has a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics and Business from the University of Illinois. Bruce interspersed his education with employment in primary agriculture, agribusiness, and agricultural banking. He ran a consulting company in Nova Scotia that provided services to agriculture and other rural businesses for ten years prior to accepting the Executive Director position with CPRC.
Gord Speksnijder, CPRC's Research Coordinator, earned BSc and MSc degrees from the University of Guelph then worked five years as a scientist for a start-up biotechnology company in the U.S. Mr. Speksnijder has been working with CPRC since 2003 and was concurrently Research Coordinator for the Poultry Industry Council for five of those years. Mr. Speksnijder is also an active partner in operations of his family’s broiler and broilerbreeder farms.