2021 award recipients

​​​​​Grants to realise big ideas for agriculture from young rural innovators

Congratulations to Fraser Border from the University of Southern Queensland who was awarded the ultimate honour of the Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management’s Award for his project -Implementing augmented reality with advanced in-situ sensing to improve workforce flexibility and yield losses in high value meat processing tasks.

We also congratulate all the winners of the industry category awards with their innovative research projects:

  • Bianca Agenbag, recipient of the Australian Wool Innovation Award
  • Fraser Border, recipient of the Australian Meat Processor Corporation Award
  • Jessica Craig, recipient of the Australian Pork Limited Award
  • Zahra Faraji Rad, recipient of the CSIRO Biosecurity digital innovation Award
  • Moshe Jasper, recipient of the Grains Research and Development Corporation Award
  • Cheryl Suwen Law, recipient of the Wine Australia Award
  • Jarrod Lees, recipient of the Meat & Livestock Australia Award
  • Ryan Orr, recipient of the Hort Innovation Award
  • Natalie Morgan, recipient of the Australian Eggs Award
  • Demi Sargent, recipient of the Cotton Research and Development Corporation Award
  • Megan Warner, recipient of the Forest & Wood Products Australia Award.

Download the winners’ booklet PDF, (1.8 MB) and find out about each winner and the project they will work on over the next 12 months.

Winners have each been granted funding to undertake a project on an emerging scientific issue or innovative activity over the next twelve months which will contribute to the success of Australia’s agriculture sector. The recipient of the Minister’s Award receives additional funding for an extended research project. The Awards aim to encourage science, innovation and technology in rural industries and help to advance the careers of young scientists, researchers and innovators through national recognition of their research ideas. The Science Awards have already helped 272 young Australians make their ideas a reality and showcase their talent to the world.

Interested in applying in the 2022 round, or know an agricultural innovator? Register to be notified when applications open.

2021 Science Award partners

We thank our partners for their support and commitment to the 2021 Science Awards and for fostering young innovators focused on the agriculture sector. Discover more about our Science Awards partners: