UniSC student and Australia Awards PNG scholarship recipient Elaine Galore recently attended the Forestry Australia Symposium and the TropAg conference. Elaine is working towards the completion of the Master of Science in Forestry as part of a Higher Degree by Research program and after arriving in Australia in early 2022, has hit the ground running.

"I had the privilege of being invited by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) to attend the Forestry Australia 2022 Symposium. The theme of the symposium was ‘Leading, Adapting & Re-imagining – the future of Forestry. The event was attended by members of Forestry Australia including sponsors and delegates from all aspects of Forestry, from scientists, researchers, professionals and farmers from all over Australia and overseas. There were plenary presentations, panel discussions and concurrent session presentations from individuals experienced in these fields.

A take home note for me in this symposium was that in order to achieve ‘Leading, Adapting & Re-imagining - the future of forestry’ all individuals (scientists, researchers, professionals, industries & farmers) have to collectively contribute to make it happen".

In addition to the Forestry Australia Symposium, Elaine also spoke highly of her time at the TropAg conference and how valuable it was to hear from professionals within the industry.

"It was interesting to hear presentations and see professionals from all over on the topics of agroforestry, agriculture and food security.

Meeting with the Meryl Williams Fellows, a group of professional women from ACIAR partner countries was very motivating as well as other ACIAR sponsored fellows, alumni and partner institutions. The ACIAR-CGIAR field to Queensland University Gatton Campus and the Lockyer Valley agricultural area was the highlight of it all, the work done in the valley and the university research areas indicates ‘shaping the science of tomorrow’ which is something the developing partner countries including PNG, can learn from and strive to achieve someday".