In November, we welcomed Kate Maddern to the team as an Operations/Research Officer.
Kate has just finished her Bachelor of Science Advanced – Global Challenges (Honours) at Monash University and undertook her honours year with NSW Department of Primary Industries.
She grew up on the family cropping and livestock property at Kaniva.
What are the biggest challenges your farming family have faced over the years?
The biggest challenge the farm has faced would be periods of lower than average rainfall. We have spent a lot of time feeding sheep and constantly checking the water, as well as lower than ideal crop yields.
What was your Honours project on?
I worked with the NSW Department of Primary Industries Soils Unit to investigate at how they could improve the communication of their research.
I investigated where agronomists, advisers and consultants source soils information from and compared that to how the researchers where communicating their soils science, all with the aim of understanding where gaps in communication might lie.
The team I was a part of also completed a stakeholder analysis of the potential extension providers in NSW.
What are you looking forward to about living in the Birchip community?
I’m really excited to become a part of the Birchip community, especially getting involved with the netball club.
I have really appreciated how friendly and welcoming everyone has been in my first few weeks here.
What are you looking forward to about working at BCG?
I look forward to working with people who are passionate about agriculture and to work on projects that help make farmers more sustainable and profitable.
I am also really excited to work at BCG due to the emphasis they put on communicating their research across the agricultural sector.
