Bella Howe’s main goal is to help make agriculture more sustainable and she’s getting herself there by studying for a Bachelor in Agricultural Science, majoring in environmental management.
“I have always loved animals, science and the outdoors and knew I wanted to study agriculture after taking it at high school,” she says.
“Lincoln and Massey are the only universities that offer agricultural science degrees and I knew Lincoln was a tight-knit community of students, which appealed to me.
“I also knew the university is really dedicated to agriculture and does a lot of research and trials, so I thought I would get the best qualification at Lincoln and have the best time doing it as well.”
Bella chose to major in environmental management due to a long-standing interest in sustainability.
“I think it’s important that we can increase production but still look after the environment, because it allows us to farm. The better care we take of the land and water, the more production we can get from it,” she says.
She enjoys both the theory and practical side of study, with labs and field trips helping to cement her knowledge.
“Doing practical work has been a very valuable experience and has increased my understanding, as what we learnt in lectures was very relevant to actually working on a farm.”
Ultimately, she would like to work with poorer communities to employ sustainable agricultural practices.
“A lot of poorer communities rely on agriculture and as they face the threat of climate change, I want to help them find methods and systems that work for them and their changing environment, so they can continue to make a good profit,” she says.
Find out more about the Bachelor of Agricultural Science and the Environmental Management major.