Professor Ronald G. Board died suddenly whilst on holiday in Morocco on 12th March 2013. Ron was a founding father of the IFRG, or, as it was then, the Incubation Research Group, and through his students at University of Bath and his own research on microbiology and the eggshell, he was hugely influential in promoting the science of incubation in the UK.

Sadly, Ken Laughlin, one of the world's most respected animal welfare and poultry breeding experts, died in April after a period of illness. Ken was most recently group vice-president for policy and strategy at Aviagen before retiring in 2008.