NT student awardee attends international small-scale fisheries symposium in Malaysia

February 17, 2018

Thanks to the Crawford Fund in Northern Territory, Charles Darwin University and Australian National University PhD researcher student, Kim Hunnam participated in the September 2017 WorldFish Resilient Small-Scale Fisheries Symposium in Penang, Malaysia.

The Symposium, was part of the CGIAR Research Program on Fish Agrifood Systems (FISH) and funded by ACIAR project, “The contribution of small-scale fisheries research to a food secure world.” Participants included researchers from WorldFish as well as universities, government, and other research and development organisations, and was organised around six sessions: (1) Tracking research impact and development impact; (2) Fisheries management and technology; (3) Governance and external drivers of change; (4) Gender and equity; (5) Food and nutrition security; and (6) Livelihoods and value chains.

“Over the three days, there were a diverse range of interesting presentations from people working in small-scale fisheries research across Asia, Africa and the Pacific, stimulating discussions and plenty of opportunities for networking with other participants. I also presented preliminary results from my PhD research in Timor-Leste as part of the final session.”

Following the Symposium, Kim spent an additional five days working from the WorldFish Headquarters and during this time, planned and drafted a blog article for the WorldFish Blog “The Fish Tank”, with input and feedback from Toby Johnson, WorldFish Head of Communications, and Pip Cohen, WorldFish Resilient Small-scale Fisheries Research Program Leader.

Speaking about her experience, Kim said, “I am very grateful to the Crawford Fund for providing the funds to enable me to attend this Symposium. Every presentation and discussion was interesting, and contained something for further thought and reflection. I was able to form new professional relationships with both experienced and early-career researchers, some of which may lead to future collaborations on research and publications.”

“Importantly, this opportunity has given me valuable insight into the broad range of research that is being undertaken in the research for development field within the small-scale fisheries sector. Furthermore, it has given me new confidence in the role of my own PhD research and a renewed enthusiasm for pursuing a potential career in this field.”

Kim’s trip to Penang, Malaysia is part of our efforts to support and encourage young Australians in study, careers and volunteering in international agricultural research, our International Agricultural Student Awards from Crawford Fund State Committees will be supporting 14 Australian tertiary students to gain international agricultural research experience and expertise.

Throughout 2017 and the early part of 2018, the 14 successful International Agricultural Student Award recipients will travel to their host countries to research and explore their chosen topic areas. You can keep up with their journey here on the Crawford Fund website and read more about their findings, learnings and any challenges they encounter.