We are proud to introduce the six recipients of the NZAGRC Pipeline Scholarships for 2011/12. 


Typically November is when many students are winding down for the long summer break, however these scholars are enthusiastically preparing for a summer, an Honours year, or both, spent with their sleeves rolled up getting involved in cutting edge research. 


Lincoln University Scholars 


Roshean Fitzgerald 

Roshean is currently in the third year of her Bachelor of Science Degree and intends to do Honours next year. Her scholarship research will investigate the potential of selected New Zealand native plants to mitigate N2O emissions from soil under the supervision of Dr Brett Robinson. She has a keen interest in environmental sciences and aims to apply her knowledge gained at university to the dairy industry after she graduates. 


Alice Keir

Alice grew up on an arable and dairy grazing farm in the Mid Canterbury district and has a huge passion for the farming industry. She is currently studying towards a Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree and will be conducting research into quantifying ruminant urine induced carbon leaching under the supervision of Professor Tim Clough this summer. She can foresee potential benefits for future farming from the outcomes of this soil science research. 


Peter West

Peter is a third year Bachelor of Agricultural Science student. His NZAGRC scholarship will fund his Honours project investigating variability in soil carbon storage under grazed pastures supervised by Professor Frank Kelliher. From an agricultural background, Peter is interested in how we can mitigate the potential negative environmental impacts of pastoral agriculture, while maintaining farm productivity and profitability. He is keen to contribute knowledge and understanding to the agricultural community and find a suitable role in the industry after graduation. 


 
Massey University Scholars



Calvin Ball

Calvin is a third year Bachelor of AgriScience student intending to do Honours next year. He has recently been crowned 2011 Massey Agriculture Student of the Year and has a passion for the NZ farming industry. He previously spent a summer working for a fertiliser company and his NZAGRC funded research continues his interest in this area. Calvin&#39;s project will investigate whether the same amounts of dry matter can be produced with reduced nitrogen content. He will be supervised by Professor Tony Parsons (Massey) and Dr Susanne Rasmussen (AgResearch). 



Chelsea Hirst

Chelsea is in her second year of a Bachelor of Science degree studying both agricultural and animal sciences. She is looking forward to her project, supervised by Drs David Pacheco and Peter Janssen (AgResearch), which involves investigating colonisation of the early rumen. Chelsea chose this research area as she is interested in seeing how animal trials are run in the field, rather than the university teaching laboratory. She will be engaged in experimental work which examines the effects of manipulating the rumens of young lambs versus their twins as controls. 



Priya Saini

Priya has a BSc in Biotechnology from India and came to New Zealand to study for a graduate certificate in Science and Technology. Her NZAGRC funded summer research will place her in Dr Graeme Attwood&#39;s laboratory at AgResearch in Palmerston North. Her objective is to investigate the relationships that occur between methanogens and bacteria in the rumen environment through gene expression studies.