Ms Sarah Fraser’s love of agriculture developed while she was helping her grandparents and dad with sheepwork on the family farm in Cooma, NSW.

Studying agriculture and chemistry in high school led her to enjoy the science behind the work and the ‘why’ we do things in agriculture.

She turned to Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga to further her education. In 2021 Sarah started a Bachelor of Agricultural Science, with her hard work earning her the Executive Dean’s Award every semester.

An Honours opportunity presented itself in May 2023 and Sarah was given the opportunity to be part of the Farmer Options for Crops Under Saline conditions (FOCUS) project funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research’s (ACIAR).

She began a pot trial at Charles Sturt in Wagga in January 2024 with cowpea, a legume that looks like a long green bean and is an alternative crop to rice.

From March to May of that year, she and another Charles Sturt Honours student lived in Can Tho, Vietnam, where she conducted field experiments with the help of colleagues at Can Tho University. She submitted her final thesis in October 2024.

“By far the greatest experience was in my Honours year, designing and running my own experiments gave me a great appreciation for the rigor and knowledge that comes from our scientific literature,” she said.

Sarah was among 550 graduates in Wagga Wagga recently, graduating with a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Honours, Class1). More than 1,600 students will graduate from six Charles Sturt campuses in April and May.

“It feels surreal (to be graduating) but I think it is important to recognise that we never stop learning,” she said. “Our degree has given us the tools to evaluate and critique the science of agriculture but there are constant learnings.”

Sarah is not the first in her family to graduate from Charles Sturt. Her mother graduated from teaching and her sister is currently studying nursing at the University.

During her study, Sarah was the recipient of numerous scholarships.

She received the Wagga Agricultural College Old Boys’ Union (WACOBU) Scholarship in 2022, now known as the Wagga Wagga Agricultural Alumni Charles Sturt University (WAACSU), and the Meller Hume Research Scholarship in 2024.

The WACOBU Scholarship has been supporting agriculture students since 2011 and it will be offered under its new WAACSU name for the first time in 2025. The Meller Hume Research Scholarship focuses on Honours students looking at a holistic view of soil, plant and animal nutrition.

“These scholarships allowed me to have sole focus on my degree,” she said.

“Without these, particularly the Meller Hume Research Scholarship that provided operating funds for some of my experiments, there is a possibility I would not have had the time or effort to put into getting the first-class Honours degree that I have.”

Sarah secured employment before graduating and is currently working at Charles Sturt as a Soil Scientist with the Cool Soil Initiative, working with farmers in undertaking various on-farm trials.