The University of Queensland’s (UQ) Faculty of Natural Resources, Agriculture and Veterinary Science (NRAVS) recently honoured two of its brightest young scientists at a ceremony at the St Lucia campus.
Kristin Descovich and Margaret Jewell are certainly the cream of the crop, receiving the Bryan and Bell medals respectively. The prestigious medals, awarded in conjunction with the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology (AIAST), celebrate the lives and achievements of two of the most influential agriculturists in the country, Wilf Bryan and Arthur Bell.
Students completing an honours program after a three-year degree are eligible to apply for the Bryan Medal. Ms Descovich completed a Bachelor of Applied Science specialising in Animal Studies before going on to complete her research project entitled “Factors influencing the behaviour of juvenile orangutans in rehabilitation”.
Ms Jewell was awarded the Bell Medal for her fourth-year Bachelor of Agricultural Science honours project entitled “Developing a virus-based gene expression vector for sorghum”. Judges were also impressed by the work of Sarah Chambers, a finalist for the medal. Ms Chambers researched “An economic comparison of conservation agriculture technologies with traditional farm practices in rain-fed cropping systems of central Mexico”.
The Bryan Medal is named in honour of Dr W. W. (Wilf) Bryan, who retired from the CSIRO Division of Tropical Agronomy in 1972 after a prestigious career in plant-breeding and pasture agronomy. Dr Bryan is also remembered for his work breeding hybrid maize varieties during his time on staff at the Queensland Agricultural College (the predecessor of today’s Gatton Campus). The Bryan Memorial Medal was established by the Queensland Branch of the AIAST in 1976.
The Bell Medal is named in honour of Arthur F. Bell, the first qualified scientist to hold the position of Under-Secretary of the then State Department of Agriculture and Stock (now DPI&F). Mr Bell was previously a pathologist and Director of the Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations. The AIAST created the award in 1958 following the death of Mr Bell.
The Bell and Bryan Medals are administered and judged by member scientists of the AIAST, Queensland Division, and are based both on the quality of written theses submitted by the students and a verbal presentation made by them on the evening of the presentation.
David Lloyd of the DPI&F, and Dr Colin Birch, Director of Studies for NRAVS, are involved in encouraging students to submit their theses and compete for these prestigious awards. They say the history behind the awards is as important today as when the medals were first presented. “The history of agricultural research in Queensland is long and proud and through these medals, we are able to not only honour two of the major contributors of their time but also encourage future science leaders,” Mr Lloyd said.
Past Bell and Bryan medallists have been awarded for excellence in many areas including economic analysis of land management, native seed dormancy on rehabilitated mine-sites, wastewater treatment and the breeding of “assassin” bugs. “The diversity of projects awarded in previous years serves to highlight the vast potential of work being conducted by these students for the benefit of the agricultural and associated industries,” Dr Birch said.
Media inquiries: Susanne Schick, UQ Gatton (5460 1229, 0409 265 587).
