Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation

Dr Christie Warburton

Research Fellow
Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation
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Christie Warburton completed her PhD at the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation in late 2023 to be conferred in 2024. Her research interest is in the development of multi-breed genomic evaluations for the north Australian beef industry. 

Christie grew up on a cattle station near Comet in central Queensland. With a passion for agriculture and the bush, Christie studied a Bachelor of Rural Science with Honours at the University of New England in Armidale. After graduating, Christie worked in a number of positions within the agricultural industry, in both academic and industry roles, before taking time away from her career to start and raise her family. She now lives with her family on a small farm in the Darling Downs, studying her PhD part-time while raising her son and supporting their family business.  
Contact: Christie Warburton, PhD candidate, Centre for Animal Science, QAAFI at UQ,  M. +61 437 840 853 or E. c.warburton@uq.edu.au

 

Researcher biography

Dr Christie Warburton is a livestock geneticist at the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), The University of Queensland. Her research uses quantitative genetics, genomics, and whole‑genome sequence data to improve genetic evaluation and breeding outcomes across beef cattle, dairy cattle, sheep, and buffalo, with projects spanning Australia and international production systems.

Christie's work focuses on understanding genomic architecture in multi-breed and multi-subspecies populations, including population stratification, SNP ascertainment bias, and IBS/IBD relationships. She develops and applies methods that improve the accuracy and fairness of genomic predictions in composite, crossbred, and tropically adapted livestock.

She is passionate about mentoring students and working collaboratively on projects that sit at the intersection of advanced statistical genomics and real‑world breeding challenges. Christie welcomes Honours and higher degree research students interested in livestock genomics, breeding program design, and improving the productivity, resilience, and sustainability of global livestock systems.

Publications

Journal Articles (9)
Conference Papers (3)
Thesis (1)

Journal Articles

Warburton, Christie L. and Hayes, Ben J. (2026). Ascertainment Bias in Cattle SNP Arrays and Implications for Multibreed Genomic Predictions. Animal Genetics, 57 (2) e70081, e70081. doi: 10.1002/age.70081
Whistler, Cameron, McCosker, Kieren, Warburton, Christie, Johnston, David, Grant, Tim, Taylor, Bradley, Goodwin, Kerry, Dayman, Melissah, Scott, Natalie, Cullen, Scott, Dekkers, Milou H, Clark, Sam and Hayes, Ben J (2026). Factors affecting recording methane emission phenotypes of composite and crossbreed beef cattle grazing tropical and subtropical rangelands of northern Australia. Journal of Animal Science, 104 skag050, 104. doi: 10.1093/jas/skag050
Hayes, Ben J., Mahony, Timothy J., Villiers, Kira, Warburton, Christie, Kemper, Kathryn E., Dinglasan, Eric, Robinson, Hannah, Powell, Owen, Voss-Fels, Kai, Godwin, Ian D. and Hickey, Lee T. (2024). Potential approaches to create ultimate genotypes in crops and livestock. Nature Genetics, 56 (11), 2310-2317. doi: 10.1038/s41588-024-01942-0
Moradi, Morteza, Warburton, Christie L., Porto-Neto, Laercio Ribeiro and Silva, Luis F. P. (2024). Estimating the heritability of nitrogen and carbon isotopes in the tail hair of beef cattle. Genetics Selection Evolution, 56 (1) 3, 1-8. doi: 10.1186/s12711-023-00870-7
Warburton, Christie L., Costilla, Roy, Engle, Bailey N., Moore, Stephen S., Corbet, Nicholas J., Fordyce, Geoffry, McGowan, Michael R., Burns, Brian M. and Hayes, Ben J. (2023). Concurrently mapping quantitative trait loci associations from multiple subspecies within hybrid populations. Heredity, 131 (5-6), 350-360. doi: 10.1038/s41437-023-00651-4
Warburton, Christie L., Costilla, Roy, Engle, Bailey N., Corbet, Nicholas J., Allen, Jack M., Fordyce, Geoffry, McGowan, Michael R., Burns, Brian M. and Hayes, Ben J. (2021). Breed-adjusted genomic relationship matrices as a method to account for population stratification in multibreed populations of tropically adapted beef heifers. Animal Production Science, 61 (18), 1788-1795. doi: 10.1071/an21057
Warburton, Christie L., Engle, Bailey N., Ross, Elizabeth M., Costilla, Roy, Moore, Stephen S., Corbet, Nicholas J., Allen, Jack M., Laing, Alan R., Fordyce, Geoffry, Lyons, Russell E., McGowan, Michael R., Burns, Brian M. and Hayes, Ben J. (2020). Use of whole-genome sequence data and novel genomic selection strategies to improve selection for age at puberty in tropically-adapted beef heifers. Genetics Selection Evolution, 52 (1) 28, 28. doi: 10.1186/s12711-020-00547-5
Brown, D. J., Fogarty, N. M., Iker, C. L., Ferguson, D. M., Blache, D. and Gaunt, G. M. (2016). Genetic evaluation of maternal behaviour and temperament in Australian sheep. Animal Production Science, 56 (4), 767-774. doi: 10.1071/AN14945
Wolcott, M. L., Johnston, D. J., Barwick, S. A., Iker, C. L., Thompson, J. M. and Burrow, H. M. (2009). Genetics of meat quality and carcass traits and the impact of tenderstretching in two tropical beef genotypes. Animal Production Science, 49 (5-6), 383-398. doi: 10.1071/EA08275

Conference Papers

Whistler, Cameron, Warburton, Christie, McCosker, Kieren and Hayes, Ben J. (2026). Genomic prediction to select for lower methane production in purebred, crossbreed and composite cattle in Northern Australia. Northern Beef Research Update Conference, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 10-13 March 2026. Roma, QLD Australia: Northern Beef Research Advisory Council.
Prada e Silva, Luis, Moradi, Morteza and Warburton, Christie (2023). Estimating the heritability of nitrogen and carbon isotopes in the tail hair of beef cattle. ASAS Annual 2023 Meeting, Athens, Greece, 13-14 January 2023. Cary, NC, United States: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/jas/skad281.032
Warburton, C.L., Costilla, R.C., Engle, B.N. and Hayes, B.J. (2022). Simultaneous mapping of quantitative trait loci in multiple subspecies using hybrid populations. 12th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production (WCGALP), Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 3-8 July 2022. Wageningen, The Netherlands: Wageningen Academic Publishers. doi: 10.3920/978-90-8686-940-4_179

Thesis

Warburton, Christie L. (2024). Genomic selection in multi-breed and multi-subspecies populations. PhD Thesis, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland.