C.A.S. Hawker Scholars
February 2025
Dr Skye Traill (nee Gabb)
Hawker Scholar: 2006 – 2008
After completing my time as a C.A.S Hawker Scholar at Robb College, University of New England, I began a career in agricultural research for international development. This started as a volunteer on an Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) project in Indonesia. This role served as a foundation to my future interests and engagement in research-for-development, allowing me to contribute to regional research priorities, local research capacity and farmers’ livelihoods.
In 2013, I completed a Masters in Science (Agriculture and Development) from the University of Reading, including research in Uganda investigating the influence of gender and wealth on smallholder innovation. This research demonstrated that labour and financial access are unevenly distributed within households, and thus intra-household relationships are critical to supporting on-farm change.
This experience influenced my subsequent PhD, assessing the impacts of forage legumes on smallholder farmers in West Timor, Indonesia. My thesis was completed in 2017 through the University of New England and CSIRO, in association with an ACIAR project.
Now raising a young family in rural Australia, my career has shifted from research-for-development to farming systems research in northern NSW. I work for AMPS Research, a leading farming systems research organisation with strong links to publicly and privately funded research. Our research aims to improve the productivity and profitability of farm businesses through both local and national research projects.
In shifting my focus from international development to rural Australia, the C.A.S Hawker Scholar principles of leadership and service continue to underpin both my career and community engagement, which currently includes volunteer governance and fundraising roles. While these principles drive me personally, I also have the highest regard for the many individuals who lead and serve our agricultural industry and small rural communities, they are what make our industry world leading and our communities thrive.
August 2016
After completing a Bachelor or Rural Science (University of New England) in 2009 with the support of a C.A.S. Hawker Scholarship, Skye has continued to pursue a career in agricultural research both in Australia and overseas. Skye has worked in sheep genetics and farming systems research in NSW and Victoria and volunteered on an Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) project in Eastern Indonesia.
Encouraged by her experience working in international agriculture, Skye studied an MSc Agriculture and Development at the University of Reading (UK) investigating the impact of gender and wealth on smallholder innovation in central Uganda.
Skye is currently completing a PhD (UNE and CSIRO) assessing the benefits and trade-offs of integrating tropical forage legumes into smallholder farming systems in Eastern Indonesia.
Skye also continues to be involved in her community, volunteering with the Toowoomba Refugee and Migrant Services and working as a Communication Officer with Researchers in Agriculture for International Development (RAID).
March 2010
In 2009 Skye completed her Bachelor of Rural Science at the University of New England, residing in Robb College. One of the highlights of her degree was studying development economics at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Copenhagen was a fantastic city to live in and she learnt a lot from the Danes approach to sustainable living and rural production systems. Her studies were also very interesting with classes often being made up of students from 10 to 20 different countries.
Following the completion of her degree she has worked at a grain receival site in western Victoria for the duration of harvest. She is about to commence working for the NSW DPI based in Orange as a research assistant for the Sheep CRC. In this position she will be analysing genetic data obtained from the Information Nucleus Flock in addition to some fieldwork at the Orange and Trangie Agricultural Research Stations. She will also be trained in data analysis and the preparation and presentation of scientific papers, which she is particularly looking forward too.
She continues to be interested in a wide range of areas in agriculture which, in addition to animal genetics, include soil chemistry, conventional crop breeding and genetic modification and Australia’s role in the development of agriculture in the Asia Pacific region.