Steve Staal (USA) was appointed acting deputy director general in November 2011. He was formerly director of ILRI’s Market Opportunities research theme. He has 16 years of experience in agricultural research and extension in Africa and South Asia. Since joining ILRI in 1996, he has conducted research on smallholder competitiveness, transaction costs and policies in indigenous dairy markets and the spatial evolution and intensification of smallholder crop-livestock production systems. Under his leadership, the ILRI’s Markets Theme worked with partners to identify and advocate opportunities for the poor to exploit livestock markets, primarily in East and West Africa and South Asia. A significant part of this work was conducted as a joint program on Livestock Markets conducted with the International Food Policy Research Institute. Staal holds a PhD and MSc degrees in agricultural economics from the University of Florida.