Lincoln University’s Professor of Nature Conservation Ian Spellerberg has been awarded the country’s top Science Communicator Award for 2008.

Aucklanders intending to travel south and study at Lincoln University in 2009 are getting together on the North Shore on 13 December for a Saturday afternoon barbecue hosted by the University Auckland-based Senior Recruitment Officer Craig Dyason.

Lincoln University hosts its fourth annual visit by students from the University of Missouri, USA, when a party of 21 arrive at the end of the month for a three-week study programme.

Top level delegations from China continue to be impressed with professional development and visitor programmes provided by Lincoln University.

There’s been a changing of the guard in the editorship of Lincoln University’s most famous regular publication the Financial Budget Manual, produced by the Agriculture Group of the Agriculture and Life Sciences Division. After more than 20 years involvement, first as co-editor and then as chief editor, Senior Tutor Elizabeth Burtt has handed over to a fellow Lincoln graduate, former farmer Tony Chaston (BAgrCom 1974).

Lincoln University doctoral student Fiona Shanhun always told her parents her ambition was to work in Antarctica. Now a top New Zealand commemorative scholarship is helping her live that dream.

An election will be held on Friday, 28 November 2008 for a member of the Lincoln University Council.  The poll will close at 12.00 noon on Friday, 28 November 2008.

The partners of the highly successful South Island Dairying Development Centre (SIDDC) are pleased to appoint Ron Pellow to the role of Executive Director.

Canterbury NPC squad member Sam Whitelock, a New Zealand representative player in two World Rugby Championships  - the under-19 tournament in Ireland in 2007 and the inaugural World Junior Championship in Wales this year  -   is Lincoln University’s Sports Person of the Year.

Just as education is a life-long process, so too can involvement in sport, cultural activities and other such areas of endeavour continue long after formal “student days” have been replaced by careers and the broader commitments of adulthood.

When Lincoln University academic Dr Ann Brower, Lecturer in Public Policy, arrived in New Zealand from the United States in 2004 as a Fulbright Scholar, little did she suspect that her planned research topic and subsequent report would quickly lead her to national prominence attracting a “storm” of vilification on the one hand and praise as a brave and insightful researcher on the other.

Commercialisation of research, development of an “enterprise culture”,  harnessing university knowledge and expertise to benefit industry, and  transforming good ideas into good commercial outcomes … all of these aims, first expressed two years ago with the Government-funded Growth and Innovation Pilot Initiatives (GIPI) programme, have now risen to a new level with the establishment of a partnership between the South Island’s three universities  -  Lincoln, Canterbury and Otago.

Environmental challenges in today's world are so numerous, how do scientific investigators, policy advisors, policy makers and practitioners decide where to target resources?

It's a dilemma that New Zealand's Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Jan Wright, will explore in Lincoln University's 10th annual public State of the Nation's Environment address this Thursday, 28 August.

Research at Lincoln University has found some good news for consumers facing high costs for staples such as bread, meat and dairy products.

The latest in a series of five-yearly surveys has confirmed that the price of wine has dropped significantly, and for many New Zealanders that means a glass of wine with dinner is part of the daily diet.

Two of Lincoln University’s sporting scholars are among the latest recipients of a prestigious New Zealand University Blue.

The awarding of a Blue is considered a great sporting honour and is generally limited to athletes and sportspeople who have reached New Zealand representative level.

Both Lincoln University recipients have studied with the support of sports scholarships, which covers the cost of course fees and on-campus trainers.

Two of Lincoln University’s environmental specialists have received international recognition for a paper which advances education for sustainability.

Ian Spellerberg, Professor of Nature Conservation; and Graeme Buchan Associate Professor of Environmental Physics and Environmental Education, have received an Emerald Literati Network award for their paper entitled “Education for Sustainability: Developing a postgraduate-level subject with an international perspective.”   

Media release, 11 August, 2008, Canterbury Cricket Association, Christchurch, New Zealand:

A number of South Island secondary schools are gearing up for an exciting new fixture on the sporting calendar following Canterbury Cricket’s launch of a Twenty20 tournament sponsored by Lincoln University.

The inaugural competition builds on the huge popularity attracted by the Twenty20 format around the world, and aims to foster the game’s development amongst a number of secondary schools throughout the South Island.

It’s been a season of honours for Lincoln University soil scientist Professor Hong Di. In June, in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, he was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, and now this month (July) he has been made a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science.

The Centre for Land, Environment and People (LEaP) will foster interdisciplinary Research, among Lincoln University academics and external partners, within five research "themes".

FRST Project Working Closely with Maori Incorporations
Lincoln University is to lead a $4million research programme to establish a New Zealand biodiesel feedstock industry on less productive land.

Funded by the Government’s Foundation for Research Science and Technology (FRST), and with global fuel company Chevron as a principal industry partner, the project reflects concerns around the cost of fuel and the impact of biofuels on the price of basic foods such as grain and milk.  The research team will be co-ordinated through the Bio-Protection Research Centre, based at Lincoln University.

New Zealand’s seed production industry  -  ranked 13th in the world for exports  -   is poised to make a major new contribution to the New Zealand economy through a research project funded today (14 July) in the latest round of grants announced by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology. 

Three Lincoln University graduates are among the seven competitors in the Grand Final of the 2008 National Bank Young Farmer of the Year Contest being held in Ashburton over 10-12 July.

James Donaldson representing the Northern region, Steve Knight representing Tasman and Nick Webster representing Aorangi, carry into the Grand Final  a strong tradition of success by Lincoln graduates in this iconic event. Former Lincoln University students have won 19 of the 39 contests since the Young Farmer event was established in 1969, and regularly feature among the placings too.

Lincoln University has established a new award to recognise “meritorious voluntary work” undertaken by individuals which supports the “fabric or reputation” of the University.

The bronze medal, to be known as the Lincoln University Medal, will carry the University crest and the words “For Meritorious Service”. It will be similar in overall design to the Lincoln University 125th Anniversary Medals presented in 2003 and will join a number of other medals awarded annually by the University for outstanding service and for academic achievement.

Lincoln University applauds the achievement of science graduate and former Sports Scholar Joanne Galletly in winning selection for the Olympic Games as a member of the New Zealand Women’s Hockey Team

A Lincoln University agricultural science graduate has achieved high honours after his home country’s first democratic elections.

Pema Gyamtsho of Bhutan, who studied at Lincoln University in the 1980s and went on to complete a PhD in Switzerland, has been elected a Member of Parliament and appointed Minister of Agriculture in the small Himalayan state

A “breakthrough based on many years of endeavour” is how Lincoln University soil scientists Professor Keith Cameron and Professor Hong Di describe the research process and invention which has contributed to their appointment as Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM).

A Lincoln University computing lecturer is topping the sales charts with a new publication on the design of databases.

Dr Clare Churcher decided to write a book after teaching database design for eight years with books that were either too superficial or too abstract.  After producing a short print run she took the book to American technical publishers Apress for wider distribution.   Beginning Database Design: From Novice to Professional was released in January 2007 and is now one of the top selling database books at on-line retailer amazon.com.

He’s been called the “lucerne revolutionary”   -   Lincoln University’s Professor of Plant Science Derrick Moot  -  but he’s the first to admit that any results achieved through his lucerne crusade owe more to a long tradition of careful scientific work at Lincoln, and willing implementation by farmers, than to any “quick fix” formula that popular opinion might see in his research.

On Wednesday 14 May farmers and members of the public will be able to assess some of that combined researcher-farmer work for themselves at a national Field Day on “Bonavaree” Farm, at Seddon, south-east of Blenheim.

Professor Moot and farmer Doug Avery will be describing the “lucerne revolution” responsible for turning around the once flagging fortunes of “Bonavaree”, a 1100-hectare property in Marlborough’s driest, drought-prone heartland.

Researchers from the Agriculture and Life Sciences Division at Lincoln University, lead by Dr Graham Barrell, carried out a trial of machine milking deer twice-daily last summer. 

Once hinds got into the pattern of regular milking they produced about 700 ml per day, but this increased to about 900 ml per day by the end of the three weeks

Getting up close and personal with Lincoln University’s dairy herd on the University’s state-of-the-art dairy farm was a highlight of a visit to the campus  yesterday (27 April) by the President of Singapore, Mr S R Nathan, and his 30-member official party

The philosophy for life for the Lincoln University graduate is a "can do" attitude, said the 2008 Bledisloe Medallist Sam Robinson of Hawkes Bay, in his acceptance speech at Lincoln University´s Graduation Ceremony

A stream water quality and ecology programme for schools has received a welcome boost through a three-year funding allocation from the Canterbury Community Trust.

Lincoln University’s Waterwatch-Kaitiaki Wai programme has been extremely popular with Canterbury’s senior primary and secondary schools.  Currently there are 14 schools taking part, including five first-time schools, to learn about water quality, freshwater biology and in-stream values.

There’s good news for New Zealand’s important land-based industries in Lincoln University’s 2008 Graduation Ceremony, being held in Christchurch Town Hall on Friday 4 April.

From a total of 725 degrees, diplomas and certificates to be presented, over a quarter relate specifically to areas such as agriculture, viticulture, wine science, food science, horticulture, farm management, forestry and organic husbandry. The bulk of the balance are also connected to important land-based fields such as environmental management, resource studies, landscape architecture, tourism management, valuation and property management,  and agribusiness.

Lincoln University welcomes the Government’s announcement of a $700 million funding boost for research, development and innovation in New Zealand’s pastoral and food industry sectors.

Research into how New Zealand red meat farmers are attempting to increase profitability by marketing their own product has led to new Lincoln University graduate Ross Bowmar being offered the opportunity to participate in a global livestock research programme in the USA.

As part of his Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree, completed with First Class Honours in Farm Management, Ross researched five South Island red meat farmers who are seeking to increase profitability by marketing some of their products themselves. He wanted to know what motivated them and how successful they were, and he wrote up his findings for his honours dissertation titled Farmer Level Marketing.

Removal of leaves from grapevines during fruit ripening is a common management practice in New Zealand vineyards.

Aimed to increase light exposure on the grapes and reduce the incidence of disease, removing leaves is also thought to have a positive effect on the quality of wine from these grapes by increasing anthocyanins, the sugar: acid ratio, and tannin, as well as changing aroma compounds.

Pinot noir is an increasingly popular grape grown throughout New Zealand, and particularly in Canterbury.  Over the years viticulturists have worked with winemakers to improve the quality of Pinot noir and the increasing sales reflect the growing acceptance by consumers

A pioneering publication in the new field of Transport Communications co-authored by Lincoln University’s Professor of Transport Studies, Christopher Kissling, and Victoria University’s Emeritus Professor of Communication Studies, John Tiffin, will be launched with a function at Lincoln University on Wednesday 13 February, in the University Library, starting at 5.00pm. Your attendance and coverage is welcome.

Connections between Lincoln University and Poland’s oldest and largest agricultural university, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, will be revived on Monday (4 Feb.) with a campus visit by a high level academic delegation from the Polish capital.

The New Zealand rural leadership programme that commands as much respect in the rural community as in the corridors of power has kicked off again at Lincoln University — its success recognised by being named a finalist in this year’s Vero Excellence in Business Support Awards

Lincoln University is investigating proposals for a dedicated research centre focused on the restoration of Te Waihora-Lake Ellesmere, in cooperation with the Taumutu Runanga of Ngai Tahu.

The University’s intentions were confirmed at the recent Waihora-Ellesmere Living Lake Symposium, organised by the Waihora Ellesmere Trust and attended by 150 people representing stakeholder and interest groups, as well as lay people with an interest in the lake.