Australia’s brightest young emerging dairy scientists have put forth their latest research to a national contingent as part of the Young Dairy Scientist Award at the Australian Dairy Conference (ADC) in Hobart.
An esteemed pathway for aspiring early-stage scientists, the Young Dairy Science Award sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim, provides early-age scientists an environment to present, discuss and connect with leading dairy farmers and industry from around the country.
From a field of five finalists, Beth Scott from Latrobe University was awarded the winner at the ADC Gala Dinner in Hobart last night after finalists had pitched their research findings to more than 600 delegates at ADC 2023.
Beth presented a piece of work titled ‘Inbreeding remains a challenge for dairy populations’ exploring the impact of genetic selection on inbreeding with previous projects focused the genetic contribution towards stillbirths in the Jersey breed.
ADC Scientific Director and ‘Young Dairy Scientist Award’ Coordinator Richard Rawnsley said the Award has become a notable high-level tertiary competition for emerging researchers offering an opportunity to showcase their research at a broader industry level and to the ultimate end-users, dairy farmers.
“The intention of the Young Dairy Scientist Award is to put the spotlight on new and emerging research that has the capacity to contribute to the future competitiveness of the Australian dairy industry,” he said.
“The Award is designed to nurture scientific excellence and the young scientists must convince fellow dairy farmers and scientists that their research is soundly based and has exciting implications for the future of the dairy industry,” he said.
“Each young scientist must prepare a written article, present to Conference and prepare an exhibit for display at Conference. The scientist with the highest combined scores is awarded a $3,000 travel bursary to further their field of study,” said Mr Rawnsley.
“The travel bursary is a significant prize offering the young scientist the opportunity to attend leading forums and workshops around the globe with considerable advancements for their learning and knowledge acquisition,” Mr Rawnsley outlined.
“Funding to extend their field of study is particularly important for these emerging scientists and the bursary has had a definitive impact on the careers of previous winners of the Award,” he said.
YOUNG DAIRY SCIENTIST AWARD FINALISTS
- Laura Field – University of Melbourne
- Dr Chinthaka Jayasinghe – Agriculture Victoria Research
- Sarah Legge – University of Sydney
- Sineka Munidasa – University of Melbourne
- Beth Scott – LaTrobe University
Winner – Beth Scott, LaTrobe University
Beth Scott (BAV, MAS) is a PhD candidate studying dairy genetics at La Trobe University. Her current research looks at the impact of genetic selection on inbreeding, with previous projects focused on the genetic contribution towards stillbirths in the Jersey breed. She has recently joined the team at Australian Fresh Milk Holdings as a Business Analyst, based in Orange.
Beth grew up on a dairy farm in South Gippsland which perhaps sparked her lifelong interest in genetics, both in the on-farm and in the scientific arena. Beth went on to complete a Bachelor of Animal and Veterinary Bioscience in 2014 and a Master of Animal Science in animal breeding and genetics at the world-leading Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
Young Dairy Scientist Award at ADC 2023 Hobart is proudly supported by Boehringer Ingelheim.
