“My interest in science is, I think, a natural curiosity about new things, about combining old knowledge with new knowledge … making an advancement, and not just in a theoretical sense, but also in a practical sense – as we do in Africa and India at the moment, to help small holder farmers.”   

After 8 years here at UNE Senior Researcher Dr. Eva Strucken will return to her hometown of Berlin, Germany to continue her scientific career as an agricultural researcher. Sharing her thoughts on leaving, Eva references the contrast of UNE and the regional city of Armidale,   

“What I will miss definitely about Armidale, in particular is this small-town community. We have two children here, and I feel it’s very nice in this small town with lots of space, with parks with great education and day-care possibilities, to raise children, – and have this big university here as an employer.”

“Coming here provided me with that opportunity to branch out into different cattle breeds and different countries of the world, to get to know different problems that people face, and not just work with high-producing dairy cattle in controlled environments.”

Eva has published three articles in the past 6 months on genetics in small-holder cattle breeding in Africa and India, with the most recent article appearing in the Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics.