Careers of UNE graduates
Anna Dawson is studying for a double degree in Science and Law
Anna Dawson studies for a double degree in Science and Law at UNE. In her third year she chose a unit in Evolution and Conservation Genetics, which ties in well with her previous units in Biochemistry and Microbiology.
‘I find it really great to study at UNE, it is a really friendly uni, and lecturers are quite personal. You can easily approach them with a problem. If you need help it is really easy to get it. I studied somewhere else before, but I did not like it. It was not as friendly, and the lecturers were not as approachable.
At UNE, there is also lots of support through the colleges because there are other people who have already completed the courses before you, and who will discuss the courses with you.
I really enjoy living in college, I meet lots of different people here, also exchange students, so you experience different approaches to life and to studying.
I already knew of Armidale through my family, and I have always liked Armidale. My brother did rural sciences at UNE and really liked it. So when I found I did not enjoy my initial location, I thought I would give Armidale a go, and I am really happy with my decision to come to UNE.’
Kate is a very successful cheesemaker and business woman
Kate Woodward graduated with a Bachelor of Rural Sciences from UNE. The BRurSc has a major component dedicated to teaching the principles of Animal Breeding.
Kate was always interested in agriculture, and more so in the animal side than in crops and soils. Now, however, she finds her knowledge of feeds and their effects very useful. She manages a herd of Brown Swiss cows – whose milk is particularly suited to cheese making – and collects award after award with her cheeses. She hopes to use her knowledge in genetics to improve her herd of Brown Swiss in the future.
‘Cheese making is all about microbiology and biochemistry and I am using a lot of my science training in what I do. I am also using a lot of the Agricultural Extension unit that I took, I use it a lot for writing media releases and action plans and similar things. Basically, I use my degree every day.
My degree was a good broad-based programme. Rural Sciences at UNE is famous for that. It is important to have a real broad training, and very science-focussed. I was an animals’ person and hated crops and soil, but I am glad now I did that, too. It was a good degree for me, I‘d do it again.
I enjoyed my time in Armidale, I am not drawn to big cities. Particularly in agriculture, this is a stimulating environment. There is the Beef CRC, and AGBU, and there is a lot of expertise around.’
Grant Parnell enjoys college life
Grant Parnell is a third year student doing a Bachelor of Science majoring in Biochemistry and in Genetics. He enjoyed genetics in his second year, and chose to major in both Genetics and Biochemistry.
‘I came to UNE because of its good reputation in the sciences, especially the rural sciences, and I am really happy with it. It is a good environment to study in. I enjoy the small class sizes, and the teachers are really good.
Armidale is a good place to live, and I especially like college life, there is lots going on.’
Karen Marshall is heading to ILRI in Africa
Karen Marshall has been at UNE for 8 years. She came to UNE to do a PhD with Julius van der Werf after graduating from the University of Queensland, with Honours in Molecular Biology. Coming from a farming background, Karen was also interested in the more applied aspects of quantitative genetics and thought she could bridge the gap between molecular and quantitative genetics. Following her PhD in quantitative genetics, she used both her molecular biology and quantitative genetics training to manage the ‘Golden Ram’ project at UNE, and also taught applied plant and animal genetics.
Now she has moved to the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi, Kenya, where she will contribute to research addressing disease resistance in farm animals. Her experience with the ‘Golden Ram’ project, a project initially founded by Australian Wool Innovation and continued by Sheep Genomics, concerning itself with resistance in sheep to infection with the Barber’s Pole Worm (Haemonchus contortus) has prepared her ideally for the new challenge. Although some aspects of animal trials in Africa present a challenge of a new category….
‘I was told by my future colleagues in Nairobi that they had just lost 80 animals to a lion attack. Some of the animals were actually mauled, the others died from shock. It seemed not as strange then and there, but when I came back [to Australia] I realised that this is quite a different situation to what we have here!
I am looking forward to the experience in Nairobi, it will be quite an adventure. And I hope I can contribute something really valuable; this is an opportunity to make a real difference. Animal genetics is such an international field; it is a brilliant field for anyone wanting to go abroad. Because the field is so small, it has this family atmosphere to it, and it is dynamic at the same time. We meet each other at International Conferences, and you really get to know each other.
What I like about quantitative genetics, is that it is much less repetitive than lab work, I find. I like learning new things all the time because I get bored easily. But I have not been bored in this job!
My time in Armidale has been just brilliant. I love the job, the people are great, there is so much expertise and support. And the lifestyle, I have done caving and abseiling and bushwalking, so many adventures. And now I am off to the next one!’
Ben Wood extended his veterinary qualifications to industry
Ben Wood trained as a veterinarian at the University of Queensland. He practiced as a vet for a few years in Tenterfield, and spent some time working in the UK. Unsatisfied with private practice, Ben wanted to pursue his interest in beef cattle, so when he heard through a friend of a Beef CRC Scholarship, he applied for it. Now, he is working for an international turkey breeding company in Canada.
‘UNE has such a strong group in genetics. I had not initially been aware of it but I was really impressed when I came with how strong they truly are. There is just so much expertise here. During my PhD I had a lot of exposure to various aspects of the field. I did a reasonably general thesis, not too narrow and specialised which I enjoyed.
The knowledge I gained in my PhD was immediately applicable in the industry job I have now. I found myself well equipped coming out of my PhD. I switched from the beef to poultry industries, but it did not take me long to get started, I just needed a month or two to gain the required industry knowledge. I enjoy working in the industry and would never have expected to be working as a turkey geneticist if you had of asked me a few years ago – it’s a big world out there.
Would I do it again? Definitely!”
Paula Macrossan works remotely from her rural property
Paula Macrossan is a consultant for an international pig breeding company, working from the farm in rural New South Wales that is her home. Paula has worked with statistical analysis for over thirty years during which time she also raised three children, and supported her husband on his farm. Paula studied rural science and later computer science, the latter as a remote course at UNE. A scholarship from the Queensland University of Technology got her interested in quantitative genetics, an interest that led to a PhD at UNE involving the adaptation of a prediction algorithm for pig breeding.
‘We wanted to achieve a 15 to 20% increase in information gained from genotyping without increasing the cost by preselecting animals. We already had a method to do it, but wanted to adapt it to pigs, who have different generation intervals and different breeding models. I also packed the model in a software package that is more user friendly and more easily accessible. It was a really satisfying PhD project. UNE is one of the top places for genetics in the world. We all know this in the field.
I have always enjoyed doing something that helped someone. At the same time I could add something to my skills. When I started off working after my rural science degree in the seventies, I loved most running statistical analyses for the vet scientists there. This was on a 64K processor computer that nobody else knew how to use.
Later I started teaching computing, so I backed up my knowledge with a remote graduate diploma course from UNE in Computer Science. It was great, the support was excellent. I loved studying externally. I much preferred getting the material and working by myself, with my youngest literally playing around my feet.
I love working from home. With today’s technology, I can work with someone who sits on the other side of the world, no problem. It is exciting to do this while being at home. And I do not waste any time being on the road.
I like the general field of agriculture; I love the people working in it. I am not a country girl myself, and not a hands-on animal person at all, but I enjoy doing my bit and that it is useful to other people. I am very fortunate in that I could always do something that someone else wanted to have done, and that I also enjoyed doing at the same time.’
Kirsty Moore likes to know that the work she does is directly applied in the commercial arena.
Kirsty Moore came to UNE as an honours student after undergraduate studies in Melbourne. She had heard a talk by AGBU’s David Johnston, and got interested in AGBU’s work.
“Melbourne was fun, and an adventure, but I knew that after three years I wouldn’t stay. I really like Armidale. There is so much to do. Nearly every weekend I am out doing something in one of the National Parks. It’s a nice little town, big enough so not everyone knows you, but you can go down the street and run into people that you do know.
I play canoe polo, it’s a polo game played with a ball except in kayaks, hitting the ball with your hand or the paddle. Also, I am in the mountaineering club here in town, we go out caving, kayaking, or go for walks, it keeps me busy!
After my honours year I worked as a research assistant for AGBU. I did not feel ready to tackle a PhD straight after my honours project. But two years later my contract came to an end. The PhD had been on the cards all along, so I applied for scholarships and got a PhD scholarship from Meat and Livestock Australia. Every year MLA has a postgraduate workshop where you give a ten minute talk about what you are doing. It is always fun going to the city.
I have been offered a position in Scotland to start in 2008. I want to stay in the quantitative genetics field. I like to see what I am doing being implemented to industry. That is probably what I liked best about my work as a research assistant, because AGBU does a lot of work for industry.
I definitely ended up in the right spot.”