Rate My Professor Paul Kenyon

Professor Paul Kenyon serves as Head of the School of Agriculture and Environment and Professor in Sheep Husbandry at Massey University. He earned a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (BAgrSc) in 1996, a Master of Applied Science (MAppSc) in 1997, and a PhD in 2002, all in Animal Science from Massey University. His doctoral thesis, titled 'The effect of mid-pregnancy shearing on lamb birthweight and survival to weaning,' laid foundational work in sheep reproduction. Originating from a sheep and beef farm background, Kenyon joined Massey University in 1997 as a research and teaching technician, advanced to lecturer during his PhD studies, attained professorial status in 2011, and took on the Head of School role in 2018. Over more than two decades, he has led extensive research programs on pastoral-based sheep production systems, focusing on maximizing ewe lamb (hogget) breeding performance, managing twin- and triplet-bearing ewes during pregnancy and lactation, enhancing lamb survival and growth, fetal programming effects on offspring lifetime performance, nutritional management using alternative herbages like chicory and plantain, ewe body condition score guidelines, reducing ewe wastage, sheep interactions with waterways, nitrate leaching mitigation, and bioeconomic modeling of sheep farms.

Kenyon has authored or co-authored over 400 scientific outputs, including 190 refereed journal articles, with notable works such as the edited volume 'Hogget performance: Unlocking the potential' (2012), chapters on nutritional management in 'Advances in Sheep Welfare' (2017) and animal factors affecting sheep meat quality in 'Achieving sustainable production of sheep' (2017), and recent publications like 'Breeding Ewe Lambs: An Australasian Perspective' (2022), 'The Behaviour of Sheep Around a Natural Waterway and the Impact on Water Quality During Summer in New Zealand: A Case Study' (2026), and 'Heritability estimates and genetic and phenotypic correlations of skin thickness and skin temperature with key production traits in FocusPrime, Texel, Romney, and Highlander sheep' (2025). His contributions have driven practice changes in New Zealand's sheep industry through technology transfer, farmer collaborations, and international partnerships in Australia, Uruguay, and China. Kenyon teaches courses in reproduction, sheep production, wool production, and farm management across agriculture, animal science, and veterinary programs, and has supervised 13 PhD completions as principal supervisor and 29 as co-supervisor. Among his honors are the 2023 McMeekan Memorial Award and the Massey University Research Medal (2022) from the New Zealand Society of Animal Production.