Kia ora Holly - from intern to master's student
Holly Hay (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Turumakina) kick-started her dairying career through DairyNZ by taking up a Māori summer internship as an undergraduate, before becoming a casual research technician.
The work takes her outdoors, taking samples and feeding cows for DairyNZ’s Less-Methane research trials at Lye Farm near Hamilton.
Her DairyNZ post-graduate scholarship helped Holly achieve one of her major goals: completing her Master of Science in 2024 on the 'Importance of dung returns on building soil carbon in pastures'.
It’s “an awesome opportunity”, says Holly, who is the first from her whānau to go to university. “Having DairyNZ’s Māori adviser Sara Tairi along the way has also made a huge difference to me.”
She was also proud to be contributing to DairyNZ’s efforts to help farmers and the sector achieve environmental goals while maintaining profitability.
“Opportunities like this get more Māori students into both the science and dairy sectors. From a Te Ao Māori perspective, protecting the Earth for the generations to come is very important.”
What’s in it for you?
Whether you’re a young person or a mature career-switcher, DairyNZ can support you and your post-graduate study towards your dairying career. We also offer opportunities specifically aimed at encouraging Māori into agricultural science. Together, these initiatives aim to achieve better outcomes for our farmers and the dairy sector.
Find out more at: