The Winston Churchill Trust is calling for people interested in applying for a Churchill Fellowship to tune in to its virtual information sessions in the lead up to applications opening on 1 March.
The Trust says, “You don’t need to have an academic qualification to apply, in fact you don’t need to have finished school. You can do a Churchill Fellowship on any topic, provided there is a benefit to Australia and your community by you sharing your knowledge or skills.”
The information session for those in food production is on 13 February. Registration is here.
The aim of the Trust is to provide an opportunity for Australians to travel overseas and conduct research in their chosen field. It also aims to reward individuals who possess passion and a commitment to make a difference in Australian society. Since its launch in 1965 more than 4500 Fellowships have been awarded.
The Trust says, “There are no prescribed qualifications to apply for the Churchill Fellowship award. Australian citizens, from all walks of life, can apply for a Churchill Fellowship. The topic of your proposed project is limitless, provided benefit to Australia is evident and a willingness to share your findings with the Australian community is displayed.”
Information about Churchill Fellows and their diverse range of projects is here.
Some recent Churchill Fellows working in the food and beverage sector:
Dr Shea Cameron became a Churchill Fellow in 2022. He is passionate about the potential role seaweed aquaculture could play in existing finfish farms by restoring degraded ecosystems, providing food, and sequestering large amounts of carbon dioxide. His project was researching the introduction of integrated multi-trophic aquaculture into Tasmanian salmon farms.
Francesca Goodman-Smith is TRANSFORM Program Leader at Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre (CRC). She is also the international representative for the University of Otago Food Waste Research Theme in New Zealand and co-chair of the Standards Committee for the Upcycled Food Association (UFA) in the US, where she helped drive and develop the first global certification for upcycled food. Her project was the Peter Mitchell Churchill Fellowship to motivate Australian businesses to innovate and become world leaders in the upcycled food sector.
Mickey Pascoe believes the future is fungi. Mickey spends his daily life passionately pursuing the exciting opportunities for fungi as food, medicine, and biomaterials while running the business which he co-founded, Little Acre Gourmet Mushrooms. His project was to study the latest cultivation and production techniques of gourmet mushrooms overseas, then bring the knowledge back and expand Australia’s gourmet mushroom production.
Dr Penny Roberts is passionate about the application of agricultural science to address challenges like adapting to climate change and supplying a growing population with nutritious food. Roberts’ current research is focussed on supporting the development of the pulse grain sector in South Australia and her project was to upskill R&D providers in Australia’s emerging pulse protein sector on suitable pulse grain and processing efficiencies. The increasing demand for alternative proteins has Australia’s plant protein market forecast to be worth $4.03 billion a year by 2030.
