17 September 2013 New scholarship helps students and industry alike

Lincoln University PhD students Laura Buckthought and Travis Ryan-Salter have been awarded $10,000 each as the first recipients of the new Alexanders Agribusiness Scholarship.

The generous scholarship is exclusive to Lincoln University and awarded on behalf of Alexanders Chartered Accountants who created the scholarship with the aim of helping committed, high calibre postgraduate students undertaking research in the primary sector.

The company Directors did consider opening the scholarship up to students from other universities, but chose to make it exclusive to Lincoln on account of the University’s focus on the land-based industries relative to New Zealand’s key commercial interests.

“We looked at a wider picture regarding graduate applicants but decided it would be Lincoln University, which is agriculturally based, and with agriculture still providing some 60% of New Zealand’s exports, we are comfortable with this decision,” says Alexanders Chartered Accountants Director, Pita Alexander.

“In choosing the recipients, we didn’t have a preference for any particular type of agricultural based research. However, as well as the quality and application of the candidate’s research, we were also looking at the qualities of the applicants themselves,” he said.

“In creating this scholarship we want to inject back into the farming community, so we did want the successful applicants to be looking at committing long-term to New Zealand so as to put something back into New Zealand’s primary sector.”

Mr Alexander is one of four Directors at Alexanders Chartered Accountants responsible for the new Alexanders Agribusiness Scholarship. As well as an alumnus of Lincoln University, he is also the recipient of the prestigious Bledisloe Medal which he received in 1991. The Medal is awarded annually by the Lincoln University Council to any student or staff member, past or present, who has made an outstanding contribution to their chosen field, advanced New Zealand’s interests or enhanced the University’s reputation.

One of the recipients, Travis Ryan-Salter, is researching ways to improve the financial and environmental sustainability of high country grazing systems through increased plant and animal productivity.

“The productivity of this land has been traditionally limited by a lack of nutrient availability, which has led to soil degradation and reduced productivity. By refining the management and strategic use of different pasture options, such as lupins and lucerne to rejuvenate the soil, we hope to provide farmers with a comprehensive toolset for the improvement of their farming systems,” says Mr Ryan-Salter.

“Receiving the Alexanders Agribusiness Scholarship makes a great deal of difference to my research programme by allowing me to direct funds straight into research costs, as well as giving me some financial security,” he said.

The other scholarship recipient, Laura Buckthought, is researching the interactive effects of nitrogen fertiliser and animal urine on nitrogen losses from dairy farming systems in New Zealand. Her research aims to quantify the effect of concurrently applied fertiliser and urine on nitrate leaching, pasture uptake and nitrous oxide emissions.

“This research is important because nitrogen losses from dairy farming systems enter the wider environment, where nitrate leaching can affect the quality of ground and surface water bodies, and nitrous oxide emissions contribute to climate change and stratospheric ozone depletion. This research aims to increase nitrogen use efficiency in dairy farming systems from both an environmental and productivity perspective,” says Ms Buckthought.

“The Alexanders Agribusiness Scholarship will help immensely with finishing my PhD and allowing me to attend conferences to present my research findings,” she said.

Lincoln University’s Scholarships Manager, Jane Edwards, says she is very grateful to the Directors of Alexanders Chartered Accountants for creating this new and very generous scholarship.

“Scholarships such as this not only make a significant difference to the lives of young researchers looking to make their way, but, in this case, based on Lincoln University’s relevance to New Zealand’s key industries, are of real value to New Zealand’s greater commercial endeavours as well. As such, we are very grateful to Alexanders for their significant contribution,” says Ms Edwards.