Dr Henry Greathead joined the University of Leeds (UoL) as a Lecturer in Animal Production Science in December 1998. He teaches all levels of undergraduate degree programmes on topics ranging from general livestock production issues, such as challenges for the livestock industry, sustainable intensification of livestock production, and extensive systems of livestock production, to more specialised topics in animal nutrition, such as digestive physiology, nutrient absorption and metabolism, and microbial fermentative digestion and metabolism in ruminant animals.
He obtained his PhD from the University of Nottingham in 1997 while working as a research assistant and then spent two years working in industry for a contract research organisation before joining UoL.
Dr Greathead’s research interests relate to fermentative digestion in the gut, primarily the rumen of cattle. He is interested in processes associated with the digestion of fibre and the factors that determine the efficiency of fibre digestion. He investigates novel ways of manipulating the rumen microbial community (microbiota) – for example, by exploiting the bioactive properties of plant secondary compounds and thus fermentation pathways and methane emission. He is also interested in interactions between the animal and its microbiota.
