Ms Aimee Snowden won the Young Alumni Award for graduates under the age of 35, announced as part of Charles Sturt Foundation Day on Wednesday 19 July.

The awards recognise graduates who are making a difference in the world, either professionally or as a volunteer.

Growing up on her family farm in Tocumwal, which is one and a half hours from Albury in the Southern Riverina, Aimee graduated with a Bachelor of Agricultural Business Management in 2016 after studying online at Charles Sturt University in the School of Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences.

Upon graduating, Aimee worked in agricultural outreach and education initiatives for Charles Sturt University in north-east Victoria, South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula with Regional Skills Training, and Central Queensland for CQUniversity.

But her biggest success came from an idea sparked in 2014, using LEGO® as a tool to engage a new generation with life on the land.

Through her initiative, Little Brick Pastoral, Aimee said she puts her LEGO® farmer minifigures and friends to work showcasing the incredible diversity of Australia’s food and fibre industries and the vast array of careers it offers.

“There’s a definite popularity when it comes to the world of LEGO® photography, so I create and photograph immersive, entertaining scenes reflecting agricultural life – from feeding the cows to planting crops, stacking hay, fixing fences and farm vehicles, and so much more – then I share them on my website, blog, and social media,” Aimee said.

Aimee has since expanded Little Brick Pastoral’s offering to encompass teaching resources, delivering talks in schools and at events, and participating in a range of other outreach activities designed to engage people of all ages with agricultural technology and modern farming practices.

Her innovative approach to primary industries education has marked her as a young leader poised to contribute significantly to the sector in the long term.

Winning this year’s Young Alumni Award is the latest in a string of accolades Aimee has received throughout her career, and one she said she was humbled to accept.

“It is an incredible honour to be named the 2023 Charles Sturt Alumni of the Year and a real surprise. Thank you to those who nominated me, and congratulations to all the nominees,” Aimee said.

Previously, Aimee was selected to represent Australia at the Global 2015 Youth Ag-Summit, was a Royal Agricultural Society of NSW Rural Achiever at the Sydney Royal Easter Show, and a finalist in the NSW/ACT AgriFutures Rural Women’s Awards.

Aimee was selected by the National Farmers Federation as a 2030 Emerging Leader, securing a prized place in the organisation’s development program for emerging leaders in partnership with the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation. She was also named an ABC Heywire Trailblazer in recognition of her status as a young regional changemaker.

This year, Aimee is taking her passion for immersive agricultural education to the world as the recipient of the Nuffield Scholarship, Australia’s most prestigious agricultural research scholarship program.

It is a career-defining achievement that will see her travel to North America, Europe, and New Zealand, where she plans to study agricultural education models that deliver immersive experiences and engage curious minds.

“I’m most looking forward to exploring the way in which children and the wider population are connected to food and fibre production in other parts of the world and seeing what initiatives I can bring back to Australia,” she said.

Aimee will also be travelling to Singapore, India, Qatar, Germany and the USA with a group of fellow scholars to understand global agriculture issues, trends and economics. She has also been selected to go to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) World Food Forum in Rome in October of this year.

Ultimately, she seeks to dismantle industry silos to create an all-encompassing, hands-on agricultural education experience, aiming to encourage future generations to consider the multitude of pathways to meaningful careers in the sector.

The Charles Sturt Foundation Alumni Awards were developed to align with the University ethos – ‘Yindyamarra Winhanganha’ – a Wiradjuri phrase meaning ‘the wisdom of respectfully knowing how to live well in a world worth living in’.

Read more about Charles Sturt's amazing alumni here.

ENDS