My name is Marieke Hoelscher, and I am from Jindera near Albury, NSW. I was born and grew up in Germany for the first six years of my life where my family has been farming since the 1500s. In 2007, we moved to Australia for a lifestyle change and my parents bought a small cropping farm here, as well as keeping our farm overseas. During year 12, I started becoming more interested in food security and Australia’s rural industries and decided to have a gap year to work in Northern Australia. I ended up getting a job at Uluru Camel Tours which started my passion for camels and utilising feral animals in Australia.
A work placement with Camel Milk NSW in late 2021 further cemented my interest in the emerging industries and the role they can be playing in Australian agriculture’s job of feeding the world.
During my first year of a Bachelor of Agriculture at Charles Sturt University in Wagga I have also become increasingly interested in carbon farming, regenerative Agriculture and improving marketing and Australian supply chains to sell our export commodities efficiently.
I am over the moon to be awarded a Horizon Scholarship and to be sponsored by the AgriFutures Emerging Industries Program as it will allow me to get more of an insight of the work AgriFutures does in sponsoring Emerging Industries and future career pathways in this sector. I am most looking forward to the networking with other scholars and stakeholders in emerging industries and finding out about their struggles and accomplishments.