CQUniversity researcher Kylie Hopkins has received a ‘Special Mention for a Young Person's Presentation' award during the recent Horticulture for the Future conference, held at Lorne along Victoria's Great Ocean Road.

Kylie presented her recent research from Yeppoon and Bundaberg on herbicides and Stevia rebaudiana - the herb from Paraguay that produces an intense natural sweetener in its foliage.

Kylie Hopkins in the field with her trials of Stevia rebaudiana

"I think my presentation generated a lot of interest in Stevia and our research because lots of people were asking me about it," she says.

"For a young person in the industry, the conference was a wonderful opportunity to learn about other areas of horticulture and meet people. I was able to learn and network at the same time as talking about my research.

"It was fantastic to be part of such a large and diverse group of researchers representing our Centre for Plant and Water Science and CQUni."

Kylie was among a group of research staff and students from CPWS who attended the event, which was jointly hosted by the Australian Postharvest Horticulture Conference, the Australian Society of Horticultural Science, and the New Zealand Institute of Agriculture and Horticultural Science.

She joined Professor Kerry Walsh, Professor Phillip Brown, Dr Phul Subedi, Umesh Acharya, Tika Neupane and Mar Mar Thi to showcase research updates from the Rockhampton and Bundaberg campuses. Kerry, Phillip and Kylie presented oral papers, Umesh and Tika presented posters and Mar had a poster on display.

CQUni researchers take a break along the Great Ocean Road

Professor Brown was also a chairperson for a session of oral papers and presented posters

Whilst in Lorne, the group had some free time between sessions to explore the local area - bush walks, waterfalls, lighthouses, wild flowers and the stunning shoreline of the Great Ocean Road.

Umesh Acharya with his poster 
Tika Neupane with his poster 
Mar Mar Thi with her poster