From Co. Wicklow, Mary McEvoy is Technical Development Manager with Germinal, Irelands largest supplier of grass and forage seeds. Following her bachelor degree in Agricultural Science in UCD in 2005, Mary undertook a PhD with Teagasc Moorepark which focussed on examining the influence of animal, sward and management factors on the performance of dairy cows at pasture. Subsequently, in 2008 she took up a position as Researcher with the Grassland Science team in Teagasc Moorepark. There her research focus included the development of the Pasture Profit Index, examining plant/animal interactions which influence animal performance and investigating the effect of management on sward performance. Mary joined Germinal in 2014 where she is responsible for customer training and education, organising farm demonstrations, monitoring variety performance and advising grass breeders on the development of new varieties.