RECOGNISED as a rising star in the grains industry, Hart Field-Site Group research and extension manager Sarah Noack has been awarded the 2020 GRDC Southern Region Emerging Leader Award.
The annual award - voted upon by the GRDC Southern Region Panel - acknowledges, encourages and rewards young emerging leaders of the grains industry in SA, Vic and Tas.
The award was presented to Dr Noack, the research and extension manager for the Hart Field-Site Group in the Mid North, at today's GRDC Grains Research Update in Adelaide.
In presenting the award, GRDC Southern Region Panel member Michael Chilvers, Tas, said Dr Noack represented the bright future of our grains industry.
"She may be young in years, but Sarah has already established herself as a leading identity in our industry," he said.
Dr Noack, who is a member of the GRDC's Southern Regional Cropping Solutions Network, spent about five years at the University of Adelaide where she completed her PhD with the soil science group.
Her thesis focused on identifying the different forms of phosphorus in crop residues using solution 31P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. This research was supported by the University of Adelaide and the GRDC.
While based at the University's Waite campus, Dr Noack was also engaged as a demonstrator for a range of first, second and third year soils and geology courses, and while there she authored a number of papers and publications.
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Since March 2013, she has been the research and extension manager at the Hart Field-Site, where field trials are focused on varieties, agronomy, weeds and herbicides, nutrition and cropping systems.
"Sarah's role at Hart is significant," Mr Chilvers said.
"She is charged with overseeing trials and research on an enormous scale.
"Sarah is articulate, professional and personable. She is very effective at extending information and has an incredible grasp of the issues and constraints that are important to our growers.
"She is a role model to other young, aspiring grains industry professionals. We know that the future of our industry is in good hands with people of Sarah's calibre leading the way.
"We hope this award will assist Sarah along her career path and that it will also help her in identifying new paths to profitability for our grain growers."
The Emerging Leader Award was a financial scholarship that could be used for travel or another agreed activity to further the skills or expertise of the recipient.
"The award is designed to encourage the emerging leader to establish linkages that leverage international knowledge and opportunities to assist the Australian grains industry to address gaps in research and skills," Mr Chilvers said.
"The award fosters networking opportunities and the development of linkages with leading researchers from around the globe."
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