FEAST awaits students at UQ Gatton

The call has gone out for high school students to attend this year’s FEAST (Future Experiences in Agriculture, Science and Technology) from April 12-16 at The University of Queensland’s Gatton campus.

Each year 50 Grades 11 and 12 students are selected from Queensland and New South Wales to attend the five-day live-in experience at UQ Gatton.

According to FEAST coordinator Anthony Smith, the program is designed to help students understand the range of course and career options in agribusiness, agriculture, horticulture, the environment, food and animal sciences.

“The FEAST program is a way for students to look at careers, develop problem-solving skills and learn about course options and university life,” Mr Smith said.

Students take on new identities as industry professionals and are given the task of finding solutions to hypothetical problems. The problems presented to FEAST students are typical of those facing modern professionals in science. The students are grouped and each group is provided with hundreds of pieces of information that its members are required to work through in order to find a solution.

“The catch is that no single student holds all the information, so networking and learning to filter information becomes an important part of the whole exercise,” said Mr Smith

Students also participate in team-building sessions, adventure-based learning exercises, and course and career information sessions on both the St Lucia and Gatton campuses.

The five-day residential school, held at UQ Gatton, will run from Monday, April 12 to Friday, April 16. It is organised by the University’s Faculty of Natural Resources, Agriculture and Veterinary Science in conjunction with the Queensland Agriculture Teachers Association.

For more information about FEAST, contact Mrs Christine Ablett (telephone 07 5460 1279).

Media: For more information, contact Anthony Smith (telephone 07 5460 1229 or 0409 265 587).