Students and staff of USP’s Discipline of Agriculture and Food Technology (DAFT) recently attended the joint New Zealand Soil Science Society and Soil Science Australia Conference in Rotorua, New Zealand.
The event brought together Soil Science professionals and HDR students from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu, Kiribati, and Tuvalu.
An eight-member team from DAFT, USP Samoa Campus and a three-member team from the Institute of Applied Science (IAS) consisting of academics, lab technicians and HDR students attended the conference. They each contributed to the oral and poster presentations and participated in various capacity-building training activities and workshops.
Associate Professor Mohammed Abdul Kader, the Pacific representative to the Australasian Soil and Plant Analysis Council (ASPAC) executive committee, facilitated capacity building and workshop events for soil professionals in the Pacific with other Soil Science academics and professionals from Australia and New Zealand.
Senior Technician, Dr Viliame Savou and Lab Manager Dr Vincent Lal, presented and updated on the capacity of the USP Soil Laboratory analytical capacities.
Two DAFT Masters students – Sili’a To’o-Perez and Ann Julie Johnson contributed oral presentations while the remaining three students – Phillip Cliftonville Fe’ao, Sootino Taungakava and Tausala Iere contributed poster presentations.
All the students participated in the various ASPAC trainings and soil judging competitions.
Three USP postgraduate students were part of the five-member team that won the Pacific Universities Challenge for the Soil Judging Competition.
The Conference highlighted the importance of networking and partnerships with other Pacific Island soil laboratories and researchers.
It also provided the team with the opportunity to share their research on an international platform, strengthen collaboration with soil research partners and provide students with the exposure and experience to complement their theory and practical studies at USP.
