Lincoln PhD student’s drought work wins award
A Lincoln University PhD student has received this year’s Kate Sheppard Memorial Trust Award for her work in protecting crops from drought.
Laura Keenan, 28, received the award at a ceremony at the Kate Sheppard Memorial Wall in Worcester St in Christchurch on Saturday.
Keenan completed an honours degree in agricultural science at Lincoln University, graduating in 2014. She worked first with Soil Matters in Canterbury and then Agricom in Palmerston North before starting her PhD study at Lincoln University in June this year.
Her PhD is focused on creating a tool that will help with predicting yield and the quality of several plants and herbs included in pasture mixes across New Zealand, with the goal of improving drought resilience and feed supply for farmers.
Keenan, who received $3000 towards her PhD, said it was a huge privilege to receive the award.
Trust chairwoman Karena Brown said Keenan was a ‘‘high calibre graduate’’ with a very ‘‘topical’’ field of study given New Zealand’s reliance on the agricultural sector.
‘‘This research is vital as warmer temperatures across New Zealand have seen more areas of the country suffer drought conditions on a regular basis and anything that can help these farmers not only survive but thrive in the future is something that we felt needed to be supported.’’
Brown said the trust was pleased to reward and assist talented women with achieving their dreams.
‘‘Given the importance of food production around the world, the research undertaken by [Keenan] will be very important not only to New Zealand but overseas as well.’’