Poultry Hub Australia (PHA) hosted 15 bright and upcoming poultry science students this month for PoultryGrad 2018. PoultryGrad is an annual event that we run that aims to get poultry science students out of their shell and out into industry. This year the event was run over two days and included a workshop and farm visit in Tamworth. The workshop focused on identifying the future industry impact of the student’s projects and how they could convey this message clearly. The students were required to do an elevator pitch in lay terms to showcase their research projects. After a few practices each student presented their pitch to the rest of the group and received peer feedback through a mock investment exercise. Each student was awarded $200 PHA poultry dollars and asked to invest in the project(s) that they thought were well presented, easy to understand and would have future impact in industry. RMIT student Ms Meg Manohar generated the highest investment and took out the prize with her work solving the chicken apocalypse; delivery of a vaccine antigen using live bacteria.
The farm visit was enjoyed by all and allowed the students to learn what it is really like on an egg farm. The students toured the farm, meeting the hens and the staff. The students witnessed the entire production line, from raising the hens to packing the eggs and composting of on farm waste. Many students asked questions and soon realised how different life is on farm compared to the laboratory, especially in terms of scale. This experience was the highlight of PoultryGrad with many students saying “it is so different to what I thought”, one student said she saw her “future” and was keen to get some industry experience through placement on farm during her studies. We look forward to hearing more from these energetic students over the coming years as they complete their research projects and hopefully stay in our industry. Lastly, thanks to all those involved in PoultryGrad 2018, especially those involved in facilitating our farm visit!
