Out of office: catching goats and sheep in Fiji!

Abstract

“Would you like to join fieldwork in Fiji in three weeks?” my colleague Fran Cowley asked me in May. Well sure! What a great opportunity to dive, into research for development for my new position as International Research and Training Program Leader for Livestock Systems at UNE. Palm trees, sand, the magnificent Pacific come to mind! But both of us being animal scientists, the focus was slightly different! Our focus is on small ruminants (sheep and goats for all non-animal scientists out there). Fran is working on animal nutrition and livestock systems and currently leading a team from the University of New England (UNE) in a project on small ruminant production systems in the Pacific Islands funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). As UNE newbie I brought my expertise on animal breeding and innovation research to the team that also includes Geoff Smith, our market chains expert and Michelle Carnegie, a livelihoods and gender specialist.