AWET scholarship winner Amelia Nolan

LIVESTOCK Collective events co-ordinator Amelia Nolan credits the University of New England’s Australian Wool Education Trust scholarship with expanding her industry network and improving her employability.

“The AWET sheep and wool scholarship was not only financially attractive, I hoped it would allow me to expand my networks within the industry and collaborate with the sponsors to assist my career prospects.

“It has done just that.”

Now it is someone else’s turn, with applications now open up to 31 May for the next scholarship round.

The Australian Wool Education Trust offers the undergraduate sheep and wool scholarship to all students across universities who offer agricultural studies. University of New England School of Environment & Rural Science sheep and wool Lecturer Dr James Preston said the scholarship this year has been sponsored by the AWTA, the T.A. Fields grazing and agricultural enterprise and AWET.

The scholarship is aimed at enabling students to access specialised training in sheep and wool. It is available to first, second and third year students, and isvalued at $6000/year (tax exempt).

The successful student must show a passion for the sheep and wool industry and aspirations to build a career in the industry. The successful student will be required to complete at least two sheep and wool subjects offered by the University of New England.

Passion and the scholarship helped Amelia

Amelia grew up on an Apsley sheep property in western Victoria, developing a passion for sheep and wool after spending many years in a shearing shed with my farmer/shearer father. She moved to Western Australia and studied a double major in animal science and crop and pasture science with additional units through UNE. She has also enjoyed studying wool marketing and clip preparation and wool technology.

While at university, she worked at a sheep export feedlot and following study completed an internship with the Australian Wool Testing Authority. She has also worked as a sheep and beef extension officer with Queensland’s Department of Agriculture and Forestry and started with The Livestock Collective in WA eight months ago.

Amelia said her passion for the sheep and wool industry made her intent on entering a career in the field upon completing study.

“The scholarship was a fantastic addition to my CV and a strong talking point in job applications.

“The scholarship allowed me to attend more events in relation to sheep and wool all over Australia, through assisting alleviate the financial burden and also networking to become aware of these events,” she said.

“It was additionally a fantastic example of how passionate I am about sheep and wool, and industry representatives really value young people with a passion for agriculture,” Amelia said.

She said networking in the industry and attending various events has allowed her to develop a thorough understanding of post farm-gate practises concerning sheep and wool. This assisted her in cultivating skills to communicate with producers and with industry representatives when attending various events.

“The AWET scholarship has proven invaluable to my career so far.

“It initially resulted in employment from AWTA, one of the scholarship sponsors, as a research intern following my degree,” she said.

“This has proven to be invaluable and I met people who will continue to influence and mentor me throughout my career.

“The subject Wool Technology also placed me in a favourable position for my internship, already having an understanding of the process and thus an ability to direct my research.”

For further details about the scholarship click here.