TULLA’s John Donlon has been selected as one of five agri leaders to receive a prestigious Nuffield Ireland Scholarship.
John is currently a veterinary surgeon specialising in cattle health and welfare with a focus on calves. After earning his veterinary degree from UCD in 2018, he completed a production animal internship at the Royal Veterinary College and later a PhD at University College Dublin (UCD) on housing and calf pneumonia.
He has worked with Teagasc to improve animal health in the dairy calf-to-beef sector and is a member of the Progressive Veterinary Network, co-authoring a landmark paper on veterinary workforce retention. Earlier this year, he joined Atlantic Technological University (ATU) as a Lecturer, contributing to the launch of Ireland’s new veterinary school.
John’s chosen topic for his Nuffield Scholarship research will be “Stopping the brain drain: retaining young veterinary professionals in rural Irish communities”.
The 2026 Nuffield Scholars will conduct their research over the next two years before returning to present their findings at the 2027 Nuffield Ireland Conference.
