RICHMOND resident Danielle Webster has received a $7000 scholarship from the Australian Wool Education Trust, which she will use for important research on animal reproduction during heatwaves.
Ms Webster is an undergraduate Bachelor of Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security student at the Western Sydney University Hawkesbury campus, and said she had always had a keen interest in reducing waste and maximising yields within the food production sector.
The prestigious grant will allow her to work with Dr Edward Narayan from WSU’s School of Health and Science at the Hawkesbury campus’ ‘Stress Lab’.
Here, the team uses non-invasive techniques to measure physiological stress and reproductive hormone profiles in wildlife and production animals, helping to improve their understanding of how stress can impact an animal’s ability to reproduce.
“Having the opportunity to study, while also receiving training and hands-on experience within a leading research project, is really exciting,” sais Ms Webster.
Ms Webster is a former Arndell Anglican College student, keen dressage rider and stable hand at Hobartville Stud. She has previously worked as a meat inspector for ANZCO, as well as within the Ministry for Primary Industries.
The $7000 scholarship funds will allow equipment to be purchased for the Stress Lab project, and will also help cover Ms Webster’s travel costs to and from a farm in the Southern Tablelands, where the team will be sampling and monitoring 100 Merino ewes.
“There is a lot of work to be done in the reproduction, animal welfare and disease area and this work will only become more important as the demand for sustainable animal products grows alongside the projected population boom,” Ms Webster said.
“This has only given me more motivation to become involved in a waste minimisation project in order to get to the depth of these issues facing farmers, and improve the situation for both producers and consumers.
“The project will be completed at the end of 2019 and is anticipated to provide insights into the effects of environment stresses on ewe reproductive success, and production traits such as wool and meat quality in offspring.”
Dr Narayan who runs the stress lab said their research looks at ‘reproductive wastage’, which refers to the early loss of embryos in pregnant female sheep or high mortality rates in newborn lambs.
“We will use non-invasively collected samples, such as faeces and wool, to measure reproductive and stress hormones in sheep at various stages of pregnancy – and work to determine if any significant change in hormones is related to reproductive wastage,” he said.
“The physiological data can determine critical periods when stress hormones are too high, and use this data to intervene, lower the animal’s stress levels, and hopefully lead to more successful pregnancies.”