1 May 2006 Grape and wine studies at Lincoln backed by experienced staff and strong industry demand for graduates

Meet Kirsten Creasy, the Manager of Lincoln University's campus-based teaching and research winery.

Kirsten is the newest permanent appointee to Lincoln University's Food and Wine Group team and she is well known to many locally as an accomplished winemaker.

A graduate of Roseworthy, the celebrated South Australian viticultural and horticultural institution, part of the University of Adelaide, Kirsten is one of the highly experienced staff members that students have contact with during their grape and wine science studies at Lincoln University. She took over management of the winery before Christmas following the retirement of Graeme Steans, one of the doyens of Canterbury viticulture and winemaking.

Whether studying for Lincoln University's Bachelor of Viticulture and Oenology degree or the postgraduate qualification known as the Graduate Diploma in Viticulture and Oenology, students have first-hand experience of working in the University's winery during part of your course.

"They also have access to a campus-base vineyard which covers 1.5 hectares and grows a range of grape varieties for evaluating cultivars and clones for Canterbury," says Dr Glen Creasy, Kirsten's husband and Senior Lecturer in Viticulture. Glen is also the Course Co-ordinator for Lincoln University's Bachelor of Viticulture and Oenology degree.

"New Zealand's wine exports last year had a value of around $440 million and they are expected to increase to $1 billion by 2010. That means an on-going demand for qualified staff to manage vineyards, grow the grapes, make the wine, manage the businesses to sell the wine, and to market the product both domestically and internationally.

"It will also require research scientists to keep on studying and refining grape production and wine making techniques in order to maintain New Zealand's efficiency and competitive advantage.

"This demand for strong qualified staff is good news for Lincoln University's graduates," says Dr Creasy.

The University's BV&O degree is best suited for those who are coming in out of school or those who have been in the workforce for a while and want to upskill.

The Graduate Diploma is aimed at people who already have an undergraduate degree or significant relevant experience and want to get started in the wine industry as quickly as possible. It's a one-year course as opposed to the three years of the degree.

Lincoln University offers the largest range of university subjects concentrating on grapes and wine within New Zealand.

Viticulture and oenology teaching and research at Lincoln University is carried out through the Food and Wine Group which is part of the University's Animal and Life Sciences Division.

Staff members of the Group are Dr Roland Harrison (head), Professor David Heatherbell, Dr Glen Creasy, Kirsten Creasy, Mike Morley-Bunker, Janette Busch and Gilbert Wells.

Because there is a wide range of specialist topics that contribute to the teaching and research programmes within viticulture and oenology, for example soil science, plant science, plant pathology, insect ecology, molecular biology, biotechnology, plant bio-protection, vineyard management and so on, a focus for interdisciplinary research on wine exists at Lincoln University in the form of the Centre for Viticulture and Oenology. University staff members from all of these areas are members of the Centre.

The Centre was established in 1998 and its first head was Associate Professor David Jackson, the pioneer of cool climate grape research in Canterbury. Today the centre is headed by Dr Roland Harrison, who also heads the University's Food and Wine Group.

The aims of the Centre are to add value to the New Zealand wine industry through improved understanding of the relationships between environment, viticultural practices and wine quality; to provide the expertise required by New Zealand as a producer of high quality wine through innovative vineyard management and wine-making; to become an internationally recognised centre for research associated with pinot noir production and marketing.

Another part of the Lincoln University viticulture and oenology story is the close connection with the Marlborough Wine Research Centre in Blenheim. This Centre was established as a collaborative enterprise connecting Lincoln University, Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology, Marlborough Regional Development Trust, Marlborough Research Centre Trust, HortResearch, and local and national wine representatives. The Centre was opened in March 2004 and the shared teaching of degree and diploma courses with Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology is well established and postgraduate activities conducted through the centre are thriving.

For further information on Lincoln University's viticulture and oenology courses see www.lincoln.ac.nz

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand