Western Australia
February 28, 2007
With an abundance of tertiary
disciplines available, students can find it hard to choose an
undergraduate degree that will set them up with exciting,
fulfilling careers.
Tarnya Fowler and Natalie Maguire made the right choice studying
at the Faculty of Natural
and Agricultural Sciences,
University of Western Australia (UWA), securing good jobs
before graduating and now working in WA’s $2 billion grain
industry.
Both completed their final year projects with the WA Herbicide
Resistance Initiative (WAHRI), a major strategic initiative by
the Grains Research and Development Corporation within the
School of Plant Biology at UWA.
Australian growers annually spend an average of $40,000 on crop
and pasture chemicals and weeds cost Australian agriculture $4
billion a year.
WAHRI is committed to research, development and extension to
help maximise sustainable crop production by reducing the
adverse impact of herbicide resistance.
Ms Maguire, from Turee Creek Station, Newman in WA’s Pilbara
region, chose to complete a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture
at UWA.
Now employed in a graduate agronomy position with Elders at
Merredin in WA’s central wheatbelt, she expects to apply many
aspects of her training and research with WAHRI to her new role.
“My fourth year project, together with the expert advice and
guidance of WAHRI staff, gave me a good grounding in herbicide
resistance, enabling me to approach weed management with a sharp
awareness of an expanding problem,” she said.
“I knew I wanted to work within agriculture and this degree
delivered scientific and practical aspects of the industry,
while giving me a broad knowledge base to build on.”
Ms Maguire selected UWA because of its good reputation and its
agricultural science degree was highly regarded nationally and
internationally recognised.
Ms Fowler, from a Carnamah wheat and sheep farm, graduates in
mid-2007 with a Bachelor of Agricultural Science and Bachelor of
Commerce, but has already begun a National Australia Bank
graduate analyst position and will move to Albury, NSW,
mid-year.
Reflecting on her time at UWA, she believes a team effort helped
her get to this point in her career.
“The great part about being an agriculture student at UWA is the
tight knit peer group working together,” Ms Fowler said.
“Another positive was the wide range of disciplines available,
with a balanced emphasis on the practical and theoretical, which
constantly kept me interested and motivated.
“It’s a great degree course because it sets you up for a variety
of jobs, from a farm, to a laboratory, or a bank. There’s
something for everyone.
“And now that a double degree is offered at UWA, agriculture
students can simultaneously do complementary degrees and
safeguard their future,” she said.
UWA has a proud 70 year
history of teaching and research in agriculture and natural
resource management. The Faculty of Agriculture was established
at UWA in 1936 and the Institute of Agriculture in 1938 to
provide critical research facilities and staff for effective
training of professional agricultural graduates and scientists
at post-graduate level. UWA recently re-established the
Institute of Agriculture, with Professor Kadambot Siddique as
Director, to strengthen the cohesion of agriculture teaching and
research within and between UWA Faculties. The Institute will
co-ordinate existing strengths of the Faculty in teaching and
research in agricultural science, while advancing UWA’s
reputation in agriculture by enhancing links with industry,
farmer groups, the community and national and international
organizations. |
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