Improving animal welfare, increasing sustainability in agriculture, and supporting women in STEM are all things that Susanne Hermesch, Professor at AGBU, is excited to achieve after being announced as a 2023 ATSE Fellow.
The ATSE Fellowship is awarded to Australia’s top scientists, and recognises excellence and accomplishment in the STEM sector.
Through the appointment, Professor Hermesch joins a long list of notable scientists, including UNE Vice Chancellor and CEO Chris Moran, and former UNE Vice Chancellor and CEO Annabel Duncan.
“It feels unreal and has not fully sunk in yet,” says Professor Hermesch, who specialises in improving the efficiency and sustainability of the pig industry.
“I am deeply honoured and excited to meet the other ATSE fellows. I am looking forward to making new connections with these esteemed STEM researchers from across Australia.”
Over the course of her 30-year career at AGBU, Professor Hermesch has developed new selection strategies for genetic improvement of pigs to optimise feed efficiency, productivity, carcase and pork quality, sustainability, and health and welfare.
Through this, she has helped build AGBU’s global reputation as a leader in research and development of genetic evaluation systems for livestock.
Professor Hermesch says she is looking forward to building on this work through the fellowship.
“It will open up new opportunities for me and I am excited for where it will take me,” she says.
“I hope the fellowship will enhance my possibilities to improve the topics that are important for me, including the improvement of animal welfare, sustainability, and supporting women in STEM.”
In addition, she is proud to be a role model for women and early career researchers in the sciences.
“I believe this is very important and I have been a mentor to women in a formal setting and to early-career scientists informally over the course of my career,” she says.
“As an ATSE fellow, I have an even greater responsibility to be visible as a role model for others to foster gender equality, diversity and inclusion.
“We have fantastic researchers here at AGBU and at UNE and I hope this fellowship will inspire others to reach for the stars.”
Professor Hermesch will be official inducted at ATSE’s 2023 New Fellows Showcase and Awards Gala Dinner in Canberra later this month.
*AGBU is a joint venture between the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and UNE and supports Australian livestock industries by providing genetic evaluation and breeding systems to breeders and commercial producers.
