It was great to finally feel a type of normalcy with the first education activity for the year. We were able to take part in the National Youth Science Forum, where we enabled current Year 12 students to ‘test drive’ our virtual chicken experience. It was a wonderful opportunity to chat about chickens with a great group of STEM students. Their insightful questions and commentary definitely enhanced the overall interaction.
One student remarked that “the virtual chicken is cool and interesting without all the gross stuff” – a very accurate description of the virtual chicken experience. We hope that we will be able to engage more with both school students and the general public over the coming year. If this interests you, please check out our latest job opportunity, the PHA Education and Training Officer – contact the UNE jobs website for more details or contact us at poultryhub@une.edu.au
This month we will officially open our next funding round, which will enable further research investment in our fantastic industry. Did you know that PoultryHub Australia managed over $3 million in research dollars last year? If you are keen to know more about our research portfolio, check out our website poultryhub.org or contact us directly.
Finally, I would like to bring our next exciting event to your attention – our undergraduate hackathon, aptly named ‘Chook Chat Hack’. This event will focus on novel ideas as to how we can create the next generation chicken. Specifically, we will ask teams of students to tackle the looming food shortage of 2050 issue, and how the answer could be chickens and eggs. Is the answer in science, agri-tech, economics, psychology, engineering, marketing or none of the above? Why did the chicken cross the road? It’s anyone’s guess.
This event is centred on engagement and the sharing of ideas. University students will be invited to form teams and submit a short video detailing their ideas. A panel of industry experts will judge the videos and the winners will receive a cash prize. If you would like to be involved, stay tuned for our official announcement later this month.
We will also be running PoultryGrad mid-year and a suite of scholarships for honours students. The best way to stay up to date is to check out the programs page on poultryhub.org
PHA looks forward to engaging with you over the coming year. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with your ideas and questions – poultryhub@ue.edu.au