Open Day 2018

A substantial number of Melbourne Veterinary School staff sat membership examinations, delivered presentations or otherwise contributed to Science Week, the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists' (ANZCVS) annual education conference.

From drones to machine learning, new technologies developed by the University of Melbourne are helping winemakers improve both their wine and their business

Ongoing uncertainty around the long term future of Melbourne’s surrounding agricultural land limits investment in Melbourne’s foodbowl and fuels speculative investment in farmland, driving up land prices and undermining farm viability, a new report has found.

University of Melbourne researchers have made a 'game changing' shift in our understanding of how plants succumb to high levels of salt in agricultural soil

The Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences has appointed Professor Timothy Reeves as its first Professor in Residence at the Dookie agricultural campus in the Goulburn Valley.

The next Head of the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at the Melbourne Veterinary School will be equine infectious disease expert Professor Josh Slater.

New research from University of Melbourne experts has calculated the 'nitrogen footprint' of the University - and come up with the best ways to reduce it.

A new measurement from University of Melbourne researchers could more accurately identify places at risk of damaging levels of nitrogen pollution.

The new head of the Melbourne Veterinary School at the University of Melbourne, Professor Anna Meredith, says humanity's future depends on a balanced ecosystem.

What happens after you leave university? Will you end up doing exactly what you trained for, or something else entirely?

Vets at the University of Melbourne’s U-Vet Hospital in Werribee say an emergency dog-to-cat blood transfusion highlights the need to have cat blood on hand for cats like Rex, who would have died waiting an hour for the next available feline donor.

3010 is now more than a magazine – it’s a podcast too. The 3010 podcast will take you into the lives of some of our amazing alumni, revealing the fantastic – and, occasionally, surprising – places their Melbourne degree has taken them.

A breakthrough that lead to better health programs for cattle launched Norm Williamson’s multi-faceted career

Dr Shu Kee (Raymond) Lam, a Research Fellow in Climate Change and Biogeochemistry in the School of Agriculture and Food, has received an ICM Agrifood Award from the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE).

University of Melbourne research has found China's overuse of agricultural chemicals like fertilisers and pesticides is linked to its number of small farms.

Equine veterinarian Dr Angus McKinnon has received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to veterinary science, particularly equine reproduction.

Professors Glenn Browning and Amir Noormohammadi conducted veterinary student seminars, workshops and round-table meetings in Indonesia with researchers and their poultry industry partners as part of an ongoing project led by Dr Nadeeka Wawegama.

Leading plant scientist Professor Herbert Kronzucker has joined the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences as Head of the School of Agriculture and Food.

The University of Melbourne’s U-Vet Animal Hospital in Werribee has launched a life-saving new feline blood bank.

More than 180 first and second-year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) students took a welcome opportunity to unwind, relax and enjoy canine companionship as part of the 2018 University Mental Health Day.

The Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences hosted 190 secondary school students from northern Victoria at its Dookie campus on Friday 25 May, giving them the opportunity to explore careers in agriculture and its support industries.

Look out for the apple truck near Union House, Parkville Campus on Thursday 24 May, 10am-4pm (unless sold out).

Animals, like people, are more productive when they are treated well; a University of Melbourne researcher finds it also benefits the people who work with them

Diet has a significant impact on pet health, just as it does in humans.

On Thursday 26 April, Professor Mark Howden delivered a public lecture to a full auditorium on how agriculture is changing in the 21st century, and what changes are still needed to limit and adapt to climate change.

The University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences has sponsored two murals in Goorambat, a town between Dookie and Benalla in the Goulburn Valley, as part of an art project celebrating the local environment and heritage.

Professor Eleanor Mackie has been selected as Chair of the Biological and Biotechnological Sciences Research Evaluation Committee by the Australian Research Council (ARC).

A new program designed to improve animal welfare standards on Australian farms is being launched tomorrow at the Australian Cattle Veterinarians conference in Fremantle, Western Australia.

For the first time, Australian frog cells have been successfully frozen and re-grown in culture, offering hope of a new technique to safeguard endangered amphibians.

The Faculty is now ranked 15 in the world for veterinary science, and 28 for agriculture.

Melbourne Veterinary School researcher and tutor Christina Marth received the Dairy Australia Award at the ABARES Outlook 2018 conference for research to help producers identify cows that may have difficulty falling pregnant.

University of Melbourne bio-engineers have developed a material made from nanoparticles that can fight antibiotic-resistant superbugs like Golden Staph.

The Gili Islands, a growing tourist destination, lie just off the coast off Bali. Part of their appeal lies in the fact that there is no motorised transport.

The water crisis in Cape Town, South Africa is a warning to the world, but University of Melbourne experts explain how it doesn't have to be this way.

With an employment rate near 90 per cent for graduates, there’s a career for everyone in agriculture.

Therapy dogs have supported young people experiencing homelessness in a pilot being assessed by a University of Melbourne expert on homelessness and its causes.

Professor Anna Meredith will assume the role of Head of the Melbourne Veterinary School in July 2018.

The Goulburn Valley Equine Hospital has been purchased by the University of Melbourne to enhance the clinical experience in equine medicine, surgery and reproduction for students completing the internationally recognised Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program.

A new research project aims to reduce food waste while decreasing the economic and environmental cost of lamb and sheep meat production.

Whether you are a student, farmer, corporate person, or policy maker, you are most likely aware that the Earth is changing, and not always for the better. Take the rise of the Earth’s global surface temperature since 1880 through today as an example. Our Earth is “redder” and “most of the warming has occurred in the past 35 years”.

Tony O'Donnell explained the unusual character of Western Australia's Yilgarn Craton – one of the world’s oldest land masses and the site of the state's wheat belt – and its effects on the soil microbiology in the 2017 Professor G.W. Leeper Memorial Lecture. Listen to the lecture below.

Three staff of the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Melbourne have been promoted to full professor.

The "Bertie" 2016 Shiraz, made by students under the supervision of experienced viticulturists at the Dookie campus winery, has taken the gold medal at the 2017 Rutherglen Wine Show.

An internship is an opportunity for both the company and the intern. That has been the lesson for both Lisa Boyle, a senior scientist in Mondelēz Australia's Consumer Science division, and her intern-turned-employee, Mei Kuang.

On 27 September 2017, a dynamic panel of experts explored whether food labelling could help create more sustainable food systems through case studies of food labelling for sustainably sourced fish, free range animal products and products containing palm oil.

In a new project, staff at the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, will collaborate with Indonesian poultry experts to develop diagnostic technologies that can be transferred from the Faculty into Indonesian laboratories.

Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor Robin Gasser gave a well-attended Dean’s Lecture on Thursday 26 October at Trinity College Gateway Building, titled Molecular Biology of Parasites and its Implications.

The Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences hosted a community open day at the Dookie campus on Wednesday 18 October 2017 to engage the local community, industry and stakeholders in the Goulburn Valley.

A $63 million redevelopment will enhance facilities for pet treatment and training for future veterinarians at the University of Melbourne’s U-Vet Werribee Animal Hospital and Werribee campus.

Alumnus Adrian Utter finds treasure underground.

Over 70 people attended a seminar day on investment in agriculture hosted by the Mackinnon Project at the University of Melbourne’s Werribee campus on 28 September.

In this DC Blood Oration, Professor Michael Lairmore, the Dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine at University of California - Davis, examines how an emerging approach termed One Health is uniting veterinarians, physicians, scientists, and other health and environmental professionals to address complex problems that recognise the vast interrelationships between human, animal and environmental health.

The Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences hosted key agricultural stakeholders on Tuesday 22 August to provide an update on the new Bachelor of Agriculture and seek support for further industry engagement in the curriculum.

Staff in the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences were successful in four Learning and Teaching Initiative (LTI) grant applications in the 2017 round.

Professor Robin Gasser has been awarded the title of Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor for his outstanding contribution to research at the University of Melbourne.

The Board of the Animal Welfare Science Centre (AWSC) is pleased to announce that Professor Andrew Fisher has accepted its invitation to become Director and is confident the Centre will continue to thrive and grow in esteem under his leadership.

They are the figures behind the Faculty’s important research work. Marshall Lightowlers, Robin Gasser and Rebecca Traub and their teams have worked for years to develop effective treatments and strategies to control parasites. Each of them has a distinctive story.

Alumni from the Faculty's Melbourne Veterinary School and School of Agriculture and Food received Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Over 40 University of Melbourne Bachelor of Veterinary Science (BVSc) and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) alumni met in Melbourne for a reception during the 2017 AVA Annual Conference

A new research centre led by University of Melbourne scientists aims to solve the challenges pollution and soil degradation poses to food production around the world.

A family’s commitment to helping others has enabled a young student to focus on her studies

A new agreement will enable research which supports the discovery of treatments and diagnostics for pathogens and disease.

Irene Myrtle Lowe took pride in telling her children she was the first woman in the southern hemisphere to complete a degree in agricultural science, writes her daughter Judy Thomson for the Invisible Farmer Project.

Dr Liz Walker has found a position she loves, as Chief Executive Officer of RSPCA Victoria.

Masters student Jemma McDougall believes she hit the jackpot when Nick Sher came into her life to offer guidance

Bachelor of Agriculture students explored the wide range of careers available to agriculture graduates in an industry event on 27 April 2017

Dr Julie Barnes always liked working with Australian animals, but these days, she's concentrating on conserving endangered North American species.

Two breadth subjects at the University cover a fair bit of beer-making and drinking territory, with help from alumni Paul and Natasha Holgate.

Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences parasitology researcher Clare Anstead has received the Australian Wool Innovation Award at the 2017 Science Innovation Awards for Young People in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry on 7 March.

Twenty early-and mid-career agricultural researchers learned how to build mobile apps for data collection in international development projects and how to pass these skills to their colleagues in a workshop at the University of Melbourne.

The Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences has appointed Professors Ted Whittem and Mohan Singh to lead the Melbourne Veterinary School (MVS) and School of Agriculture and Food (SAF), respectively.

Christmas can be exciting and full of treats for us, but full of new dangers for pets warns veterinarian Dr Leonie Richards from the University of Melbourne’s U-Vet clinic in Werribee.

Congratulations to Associate Professor Rebecca Traub, whose new Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded research is expected to improve access to diagnosis in remote areas of developing countries at low cost.

Professor John Fazakerley, Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences delivered this public lecture at the University of Melbourne’s Parkville Campus on Thursday 22 September.

They may have graduated 16 years apart, but Melbourne veterinary science alumni Stephen Cutter and Ella Richardson found a shared interest in Australian wildlife and treating dogs in Indigenous communities in the north of Australia.

Alicia Cain and her brothers Peter and Matthew turned their father’s renowned oat farm into fields of gold when the trio saw the potential of his produce as an artisanal product.

A vaccine to combat tapeworms in pigs developed by the University of Melbourne’s Professor Marshall Lightowlers, Indian Immunological Limited and the Global Alliance for Veterinary Medicine, could also help reduce incidence of epilepsy in humans.

Professor Jan Thomas, a Melbourne Master of Veterinary Studies alumna with an international reputation for her teaching, research and academic leadership will be the next vice-chancellor of Massey University in New Zealand.

The Weekly Review interviews women in the racing industry in its latest issue, including University of Melbourne veterinary medicine alumna and former staff member Grace Forbes.

University of Melbourne students Dale Hinkley and Kate Methven have been awarded Rural Finance Scholarships in this year’s round. The scholarship gives Victorian agriculture students financial and mentoring support.

If you break your leg, it will be painful and debilitating but in most cases you can recover with treatment. Horses aren’t so lucky; for them a severe leg injury will usually result in death.

The University of Melbourne hosted the first Australian intervarsity Animal Welfare Judging Competition in September 2016.

Dr Stephen Cutter and Dr Ella Richardson run The Ark animal hospital in Darwin, treating over 1000 wildlife cases a year.

Growing up on his family’s cropping farm in Freshwater Creek, Xavier Carew always knew he’d pursue a career in the industry.

The Cain siblings drew inspiration from the wine industry in their journey from paddock to plate.

Professor Frank Dunshea has been awarded the title of Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor by the University of Melbourne.

Research by Evan Bittner (pictured above) has shown recordings of the cries and trumpets of female elephants can be played through speakers to prevent crops from being raided by bull elephants.

University of Melbourne researchers will seek to reduce the risk of racehorse fatalities on the track as part of a $5.25 million funding commitment from the Victorian Government and Racing Victoria.

“Men’s and women’s football teams made up of University of Melbourne and Marcus Oldham College agriculture students went toe-to-toe in two games in Parkville.”

University of Melbourne professor Kevin Smith spoke at the WAFarmers annual dairy conference last week about GM pasture research and the opportunity it presents for dairy farmers in Australia, as well as the potential issues in managing GM pastures.

Sam Nielsen is a first year University of Melbourne Bachelor of Agriculture student looking to the future of agriculture in Australia.

Claudia Gerbert undertook the Bachelor of Agriculture at Melbourne.

Melbourne University veterinary science student Daniel Mosele, a former Woodleigh student, is one of several young people who have registered a stud, Woolondoon, at Baxter.”

Current University of Melbourne Bachelor of Agriculture student Carl Young is one of the many who are benefiting.

Acclaimed virologist and academic Professor John Fazakerley has today commenced his role as Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Melbourne.

Animal welfare policy has had a big boost to its evidence base, with two South Australian research partners joining the Animal Welfare Science Centre (AWSC) to make the Centre one of the world’s largest animal welfare focused research groups.

The two-and-a-half weeks old animal was able to stand for a short period of time after medical staff removed casts from its front legs.

The University of Melbourne team has taken the top prize in the tertiary division in Australian Wool Innovation’s National Merino Challenge (NMC).

In this University of Melbourne Free Public Lecture, nutrition and public health expert Professor Marion Nestle examines how lessons learned from soda advocacy are applicable to advocacy for additional aspects of healthier and more sustainable food systems.

The 24th G.W. Leeper Memorial Lecture was delivered by Professor Neal Menzies, Head of the University of Queensland’s School of Agriculture and Food Sciences

The University of Melbourne has today launched its new Bachelor of Agriculture degree, designed with industry experts to meet the high demand for agricultural scientists and prepare them for what is predicted to be a hugely productive century for Australian agriculture.