Today we say goodbye to our ten 2017 John Dillon Fellows as they conclude their six-week leadership development program. The John Dillon Memorial Fellowship was established by ACIAR in recognition of Professor John L. Dillon’s life-long support for international agricultural research.

 

 

 

During their six weeks in Australia the Fellows spent time visiting research institutions including the University of Melbourne, the University of Queensland, Charles Darwin University, the Australian National University, and state and federal government agencies including the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences conference, CSIRO, the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation and the CRC for Plant Biosecurity. The Fellows also did workshops on Professional Communication and Development of Government Policy. The policy workshop finished with a panel discussion at ACIAR House with our CEO Professor Andrew Campbell, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Bob McMullen and ABARES Executive Director, Karen Schneider.

 

 

 

Our 2017 John Dillon Fellows are from Cambodia, Malawi, Myanmar, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, South Africa, Uganda, Vanuatu, and Vietnam. The Fellows were given training and mentoring opportunities to develop leadership skills in the areas of agricultural research management, agricultural policy and extension technologies. We gave them first hand exposure to Australian agriculture, forestry and fishery work across a range of best-practice organisations involved in research, extension or policy making.

This year’s John Dillon Fellows are key members of ACIAR research programs on empowerment of women and girls in PNG, adaptive research to assess and adjust innovations to suit farmers needs in Myanmar, optimal water consumption for vegetable production in Africa, economic development in Vietnam, agricultural education programs in the Philippines, animal nutrition and management in Cambodia, social sciences in Pakistan, agricultural value chains in Vietnam, forestry development in Uganda and aquaculture development in Vanuatu.
 

 

Each year John Dillon Fellowships are awarded to ten talented agricultural research managers from our 36 ACIAR partner countries. The awardees are at the forefront of development of their own country’s agricultural, fishery and forestry industries. The John Dillon Memorial Fellowship program provide intensive leadership and management training to exceptional individuals working or having worked on ACIAR projects in developing countries. Training is provided by the Melbourne Business School in executive management and research management. 

Our ten 2017 John Dillon Fellows:

·         AYE MIN (Min), Assistant Director Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and Irrigation, Department of Agriculture, Myanmar

·         Isaac FANDIKA, Chief Agricultural Research Scientist, Department of Agricultural Research Services, Malawi

·         Baldwin NENGOVHELA, Scientific Manager: Animal Production at the South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF)

·         Hillary AGABA, Director of Research, National Forestry Resources Research Institute, National Agricultural Research Organisation, Uganda

·         Kim Khoi Dang (Khoi) Director for Centre for Agriculture Policy, Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural development, Vietnam

·         Aneela Afzal, Assistant professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Arid Agriculture, Pakistan

·         Chan BUN, Deputy director, National Animal Health and Production Research Institute (NAHPRI), General Directorate of Animal Health and Production(GDAHP), Cambodia

·         Veronica GAWI BUE, Senior lecturer, Papua New Guinea University of Technology, Papua New Guinea

·         Leylani MANDAC JULIANO (Lani), Supervising Science Research Specialist, Agronomy, Soils and Plant Physiology Division, Philippine Rice Research Institute, Philippines

·         Sompert GEREVA, Acting Manager, Research and Aquaculture Division, Vanuatu Fisheries Department, Vanuatu



Kirsten Davey (http://aciarblog.blogspot.com.au/2017/03/aciar-farewells-2017-john-dillon.html)