News Archive

UWA Extension is always looking for new ways to connect the University with communities and recently extended that reach to China.

Twenty agricultural students from South China Agriculture University visited and studied for four weeks in July and August. They were keen to improve their English and wanted to experience Australia’s culture, environment and our challenging farming practices. They got more than they asked for.

They started with five days of English, learning about Australian culture and touring the campus with the UWA Centre for English Lanuage Teaching (CELT). They then got the opportunity to have an Aboriginal experience hosted by a Noongar elder artist, taste bush tucker and learn to play the didgeridoo in the Swan Valley.

In their second week, they were off via Serpentine and Jarrahdale to study the flood plain, coastal soils and a bird sanctuary. Then hardly being allowed to pause for breath, they were whisked to Brookton to discover the Future Farm in Ridgefield.

Many UWA students aren’t aware that this cutting-edge research facility exists and the visiting students realised we face many of the same farming challenges they do in China. They saw experimental grass that thrives on saltwater, an introduced breed of sheep that produces less methane gas, and much more.

Further south again, Albany revealed the unique south coast natural resources, they went to the Whaling Station, enjoyed lectures from the Department of Agriculture and Food WA and attended the Great Southern Science Conference. Before travelling back to Perth, they visited Middleton beach, a winery and a sandalwood factory.

Their studies at UWA included plant pathogens, herbicide resistance, agricultural and resource economics, as well as a visit to the UWA School of Animal Biology and CSIRO livestock industries.

Their visit was interspersed with free days to relax, shop or just explore on their own, so they had plenty of energy to learn about legume crops at our Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture .

UWA Extension Program Manager, Kylie Weston , said the students were delightful and discovered more agricultural synergies between their host and home countries than they had anticipated.

This was the second group from China to go through the program. UWA Extension also recently ran a condensed program for Ngee Ann Polytechnic from Singapore, which saw the students head to Rottnest for a weekend with the Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions and the Oceans Institute

Published in UWA News , 15 October 2012