Friday, October 24, 2014

CQUni champions of science

I was delighted back in early September when our fantastic agriculture Professor Dave Swain was awarded with a Queensland Government Department of Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts, Science Champion Award for his ground breaking work in precision livestock management and his collaboration with industry.

Now in the last week two more CQUni researchers were recognised with the same award and once again it was for agriculture related research. Professor Phil Brown and Dr Talitha Best who are both located at the Bundaberg campus are conducting research that looks into the relationship between horticultural production systems and consumer psychology. They are working directly with local agribusiness stakeholders to take a fresh look at the horticultural value chain – from soil to supermarket – to improve yields and understand barriers industry innovation, and grower and consumer motivations. Once again a great example of CQUniversity and our researchers working directly with communities and industry to develop research that is relevant to local issues and needs.


CQUniversity is a leader in agricultural research – and now a leader in these awards with three science champions out of the nine awarded going to CQUni (the most for a Queensland university). Agricultural research it is so important to the central Queensland region and I am extremely proud to be working with true innovators in this area. Congratulations Dave, Phil and Talitha! This recognition is well deserved.

Professor Dave Swain accepts his award from QLD MP Ian Walker

Professor Phil Brown and Dr Talitha Best accept their awards from Minister Walker this week