Livestock Research Innovation Corporation (LRIC) has named Kelly Somerville as its new CEO, following the retirement of former CEO Mike McMorris, effective today. Somerville most recently served as industry services manager for LRIC.
Somerville holds a bachelor in Animal Science from the University of Guelph and has held positions with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association. She also co-owns a small herd of purebred Angus cattle.
“Over the past year, Kelly has impressed us with her passion, drive and vision for the livestock industry, as well as her expertise and ability to build relationships across our industry and beyond, positioning her well to lead this organization into its next chapter,” says LRIC board chair Don Gordon. “LRIC is an innovation organization, and we believe Kelly is an innovative hire who is very reflective of the generational shift in our industry as young, innovative people move into leadership roles.”
Since joining LRIC last year, Somerville has been heavily involved in developing and leading many of the organization’s current projects. This includes the farming innovation tour series to introduce government, academia and industry representatives first-hand to farmers and innovation on livestock farms, the Horizon Series webinars, and the Engineering a Better Farm initiative to help bring engineering expertise and innovation to livestock farming by building relationships with engineering schools at several universities.
“As an organization, LRIC is on a solid path, with the board and staff fully committed to driving research as a key element in the livestock innovation cycle. I look forward to building off the existing momentum and continuing the great initiatives currently underway,” says Somerville. “This includes our GRIP (Getting Research into Practice) roundtable coming up this fall, which will be the next step in our ongoing efforts to get research from the lab into the barn.”
Somerville got her start in the livestock industry showing beef cattle in 4-H in her pre-teen years, and has been involved with various cattle organization boards, including the Ontario Angus Association and Canadian Junior Angus Association.
Livestock Research Innovation Corporation was established in 2012 with support from Ontario’s beef, pork, dairy and poultry sector organizations and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness. LRIC’s mission is driving innovation, and the organization takes a value chain approach to research and innovation by providing leadership in research priority setting, coordination and process; identifying and communicating emerging issues; and strengthening networks across the sector.
