Wollongong academic awarded 2003 NSW young rural science award

Sep 22, 2003

University of Wollongong academic Dr Wendy Russell was named the NSW winner of the 2003 Science and Innovation Awards for Young People in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry at Parliament House on Thursday.

Dr Russell, who lectures in biochemistry and biotechnology at UOW, was presented with a trophy and funding to go towards a one-year research project by Warren Truss the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

The funding will be used by Dr Russell to help design and develop a framework to evaluate the potential of genetically modified crops to contribute to improved sustainability in rural Australia.

Dr Russell said the study would involve the participation of the community, as well as traditional scientists and social scientists and will focus particularly on the social aspects of sustainability. It will also involve the implementation and assessment of this framework in a pilot study of genetically modified cotton adoption in the cotton-growing region of NSW.

This is an area that Dr Russell is particularly interested. For the last three to four years she has been researching the social, ethical and legal aspects of biotechnology. She is also part of the BELSA (biotechnology - ethical, legal and social aspects) research group at UOW, an informal, cross-faculty research grouping and she recently spent six months in the United States and Europe on sabbatical, including time spent as a visiting scholar at Tufts University in Boston, studying aspects of biotechnology research and development and policy.

Australian Agricultural Minister Mr Truss said the awards were designed to encourage young Australians wishing to undertake innovative research - in the laboratory or the farm - to help boost the competitiveness of the country's rural industries and the long-term viability of its regional communities.

"Applications are assessed for their innovativeness and scientific relevance, and their potential benefit to Australia's agriculture, fisheries or forestry industries," he said.