LIC extends New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards sponsorship
LIC has reaffirmed its sponsorship of the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards (NZDIA) by signing up as a national sponsor for another three years.
One of New Zealand's budding scientists will travel abroad later this year to complete his PhD, after winning the 2012 Doctoral Studentship Award from LIC.
Chad Harland, a former Taradale High student, holds a Master of Science from Canterbury University and is currently an information analyst in the farmer coop's Research & Development Group.
Harland, 28, will now choose a university to attend from August and commence his PhD in the area of genomics or bioinformatics, funded by LIC.
As part of the scholarship, a full time science position will also be made available at LIC when Chad returns to New Zealand.
Without the scholarship, Harland's plans to undertake his PhD were on-hold.
"The scholarship is great, and my PhD wouldn't have been as soon without LIC's support.
"It covers the costs of doing the PhD but also offers a relevant job once you finish it. This is a massive advantage because a PhD isn't much use if you can't get a job that allows you to make use of the skills you developed."
Harland says it's great to be able to use his knowledge and skills to help benefit and impact on the dairy industry with LIC.
"You have room to innovate and develop your career in areas that are of interest to you, and it's a company that's going places and having a real measurable impact."
General manager of Research and Development, Dr Richard Spelman says LIC has a reputation for attracting some of the best scientific minds in the world, and its scholarship programmes ensure this will continue.
"The programmes support our next generation of scientists, allowing them to complete a higher degree of study with funding, mentoring and job opportunities upon completion."
Since starting in 2002, LIC's Patrick Shannon Scholarship and Doctoral Studentship programmes have provided students with funding, support and mentoring from the leaders in the field, to assist them to complete a higher level of study.
The unique programmes encourage those studying genetics, mathematics, statistics, machine learning and/or bioinformatics to complete the study they may otherwise not be able to do, with support from LIC and possibility of employment in their research team.
An independent report, prepared for Alliance farmer shareholders is backing the proposed $250 million joint venture investment by Irish company Dawn Meats Group.
Whangarei field service technician, Bryce Dickson has cemented his place in John Deere’s history, becoming the first ever person to win an award for the third time at the annual Australian and New Zealand Technician of the Year Awards, announced at a gala dinner in Brisbane last night.
NZPork has appointed Auckland-based Paul Bucknell as its new chair.
The Government claims to have delivered on its election promise to protect productive farmland from emissions trading scheme (ETS) but red meat farmers aren’t happy.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).