Tristan Guillemin, the winner of FRDC’s 2023 ‘Science and Innovation Award’, talks about his Award-winning project and how he was able to ‘kill two birds with one stone’.
The Science and Innovation Awards recognise Young People in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry who undertake innovative science projects that contribute to the ongoing success and sustainability of Australia’s agricultural industries.
Tristan’s project ‘Evaluating the effect of secondary predation when characterising the diet of large pelagic fishes’ focused on improving understanding of the diet of commercially and environmentally important pelagic fish species like tuna and marlin, by analysing their diet.
Photo (L-R): The Hon. Minister Murray Watt, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Tristan Guillemin Science Awards FRDC Winner, and Dr Patrick Hone, FRDC Managing Director.
“My PhD –a postgraduate qualification involving research on a specific topic – looks at historic shifts in Marlin fisheries,” he said.
“One section of my PhD was looking at the diet of Marlin. No one’s really studied the diet of blue, black and striped Marlin on the East Coast of New South Wales. Since I worked closely with a number of game fishing competitions, I had access to a readymade supply of marlin and was therefore able to analyse their stomach contents.”
Tristan also described how a recent study on Great Hammerheads helped shape his project.
“The Great Hammerheads project found evidence that their diet was being affected by not only what they were eating, but also by the fish that their food source was eating. So, my supervisor suggested I should examine this angle as well, given that no one else had done this type of research on Marlin.”
“Killing two birds with one stone as they say.”
Tristan was excited when he heard his application was successful and would receive his award at the ABARES Outlook 2023 Conference held recently in Canberra.
“It was an incredible feeling when I was told I had won the FRDC Science and Innovation award.”
“It was great to meet all the other awards winners and the FRDC Managing Director, Dr Patrick Hone and other staff.”
Tristan is excited to see his project finally come to life.
“I’ve already started processing the stomachs and I am keen to get onto the DNA sequencing next, to see what sort of results I find.”
FRDC congratulates all winners, most notably Nathan Cleasby, who received the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s Award, sponsored by AgriFutures Australia and presented by Senator The Hon Murray Watt, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry for his project ‘Developing novel hatchery technology for the Australian Freshwater Crayfish Industry.’ Nathan’s project aims to develop novel and reliable hatchery techniques and transport protocols for juvenile crayfish to support the growth of the domestic Freshwater Crayfish industry.
Learn more about Tristan’s work and the awards.
This reflects R&D Plan Outcomes 1 and 3 and Enabling Strategies ii, III and IV
