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Karin Alvåsen

Karin Alvåsen
Researcher at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Department of Clinical Sciences.

Presentation

I work as a researcher at the Unit for Veterinary Epidemiology where I am mainly involved in research on animal health and welfare in dairy cows. I am also involved in epidemiology teaching and act as supervisor for master and PhD students.

Research

Main applicant and project leader for the following ongoing projects:

Reduced dairy cow mortality for improved animal welfare and sustainability
In this project, we aim to: 1) conduct an epidemiological study to evaluate individual and herd-related risk factors, including genetic factors; 2) in a field study follow a number of dairy herds and interview dairy farmers to identify management and housing related risk factors; 3) design an advisory tool to calculate how different mortality levels affect farm economy and environmental impact; 4) develop and improve the effectiveness of advisory services to reduce on-farm cow mortality. 

Project group: Lisa Ekman, Freddy Fikse, Annica Hansson, Jannica Krafft, Maria Berglund at Växa. The project is funded by the Swedish Farmers' Foundation for Agricultural Research (SLF).


Good animal welfare - benefits for animals, farmers and society
In this interdisciplinary project, focusing on dairy herds, we study: 1) whether different animal welfare improving measures lead to cost or revenue increases at farm level; 2) actual farm production results linked to farm animal welfare levels to evaluate the economic situation of farms; 3) how and which externalities are affected by different animal welfare levels.

The research is carried out in collaboration with SRUC and Lincoln University. 
The project is funded by Formas. 

ProYoungStock - Promoting the health and welfare of dairy cows and young stock through 'natural' feeding systems 
There is great potential to improve conditions for young animals in dairy production. In this project, we study rearing systems that allow cow-calf contact. We use economic models to investigate the impact of cow-calf contact systems on the economics of dairy farms. Field trials on dairy farms are conducted to study the effects of the rearing strategies on animal welfare (including health) and farm economic performance. 

ProYoungStock is funded by the ERA-NET CORE Organic Cofund. 
More information on the project can be found here: www.proyoungstock.net and leaflet "Young stock and cows benefit from natural feeding systems"

 

Contributing researcher to the following projects:

Functional Length of Life (FULL) - a better indicator of the length of life of dairy cows. Funded by Formas. Main applicant: Nils Fall. Co-applicants: Karin Alvåsen, Ulf Emanuelson, Lisa Ekman, and Daiana de Oliveira.

TransformDairyNet: Working together to upscale Cow-Calf-Contact dairy production and beyond. Funded by HORIZON Europe. Main applicant: Siobhan Mullan. Co-applicants: 26 European organizations. Contact persons at SLU: Karin Alvåsen and Sigrid Agenäs.

European Partnership Animal Health & Welfare (EUP AH&W). Funded by HORIZON Europe. Main applicant: University of Ghent. Co-applicants: 91 partners. Swedish leaders: Anna Wallenbeck, Susanna Stenberg Lewerin, and Harry Blokhuis. Contact persons for OO9 - Action 1. Assess the economic and societal burden of selected priority diseases: Karin Alvåsen and Helena Hansson.

Loss of beef during primary production in Sweden: quantities, causes, food potential and carbon footprint and economically assessed measures. Funded by Formas. Main applicant: Ingrid Strid. Co-applicants: Karin Alvåsen, Ingrid Hunter Holmøy, Anett Seeman, Charlotte Berg, Jesper Rydén, Henrik Lander.

The slow sheep and goat killer: Small ruminant lentiviruses in Swedish herds. Funded by Formas. Main applicant: Jonas Johansson Wensman. Co-applicants: Karin Alvåsen, Jenny Frössling, Ylva Persson, Emelie Larsdotter.

Sustainability and structural change in Swedish milk production. Funded by the Swedish Farmers’ Foundation for Agricultural Research (SLF). Main applicant: Ruben Hoffmann. Co-applicants: Karin Alvåsen, Mark Brady, Per Hansson, Susanne Båth Jacobsson.

The role of small-scale dairy cattle production in a sustainable and robust Swedish food supply. Funded by SLF. Main applicant: Lisa Ekman. Co-applicants: Karin Alvåsen, Ylva Persson, Ulrika Nordling, Ulf Emanuelson, Nils Fall, Pernilla Tidåker, and Mikaela Lindberg.

Background

PhD in Clinical Science, Veterinary Epidemiology, 2014. 

MSc in Animal Science, 2009. 

Supervision

Current supervision of doctoral students 

Emma Hurri, (Veterinary science; year of admission: 2019). Project title: Mycoplasma bovis – herd diagnostics and epidemiological knowledge to prevent infections in Swedish cattle Main supervisor: Ass. prof. Madeleine Tråvén. Co-supervisors: Karin Alvåsen and Karl Pedersen.

Ulrika Nordling (Veterinary science; year of admission: 2021). Project title: Ruminants in a flexible food chain - animal health and food security from a preparedness perspective. Main supervisor: Ass. prof. Ylva Persson. Co-supervisors: Karin Alvåsen, Susanna Sternberg Lewerin and Stefan Widgren.

Anna Ordell (Veterinary science; year of admission: 2022) Project title: The slow sheep and goat killer - small ruminant lentiviruses in Swedish herds. Main supervisor: Ass. prof. Jonas Johansson Wensman. Co-supervisors: Karin Alvåsen, Ylva Persson and Jenny Frössling. 

Sanna Pasanen (Technology; year of admission: 2023). Project title: Life cycle assessment of measures for reduced losses of beef at Swedish cattle farms. Main supervisor: Ass. prof. Mattias Eriksson. Co-supervisors: Karin Alvåsen and Ingrid Strid.

Annie Hägglund (Veterinary Science; year of admission: 2024). Project title: Implications of a low-input/low-output (LILO) production system for organic dairy production. Main supervisor: Prof. Nils Fall. Co-supervisors: Karin Alvåsen, Rebecca Danielsson and Pernilla Tidåker.


Contact

Researcher at the Department of Clinical Sciences; Veterinary Epidemiology Unit
Telephone: +4618671323, +46705413227
Postal address:
SLU, Institutionen för kliniska vetenskaper
Box 7054
750 07 Uppsala
Visiting address: Ulls väg 26, Uppsala

Publications list: