Meet our team.
Amy Cosby
Dr. Amy Cosby is a Research Fellow – Agri-tech Education and Extension at CQUniversity Australia with a Bachelor of Agriculture/Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and a PhD in Precision Agriculture. Amy is a leading practitioner and researcher in the field of student and teacher engagement within the agricultural industry and has extensive experience in leading large projects with a wide range of partners. She lives and works from South Gippsland, Victoria and with her husband owns and operates a 200-cow dairy farm. Amy currently works with educators, researchers and industry professionals to develop innovative programs to increase the skills and knowledge of teachers and students in agricultural concepts, tools and systems. Amy has conducted numerous surveys with both educators and students to evaluate their current level of agricultural knowledge and perception of the industry from a range of rural and urban locations. Her objective is to use the knowledge derived from this research to design programs which showcase and attract the next generation agricultural workforce to the industry from diverse backgrounds.
Jaime Manning
Dr Jaime Manning is a lecturer in Agriculture within the School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences at CQUniversity Australia, based in Rockhampton. Currently, she teaches animal production, behaviour, welfare and new and emerging technologies into the CQUni agriculture degree program. She has a Bachelor of Animal and Veterinary Bioscience (First Class Honours) and a PhD in Precision Livestock from The University of Sydney. Jaime’s main research interests are using and incorporating technology on farm to improve the level of monitoring and welfare of livestock (cattle and sheep), whilst providing invaluable information into how we manage livestock and detect issues as they arise in extensive production systems. Her experience in livestock tracking, technology in Agriculture and research ensures that activities and professional development opportunities developed by the Agri-tech Education and Extension Research team are industry relevant and highlight current issues facing the sector.
Nicole McDonald
Nicole McDonald is a social science researcher specialising in agricultural career and workforce development. She has recently completed research projects for the Australian cotton industry on the social-cognitive factors of work engagement and job satisfaction, and understanding and planning for the future of work. Her work has been published in the 2019 International Handbook of Career Guidance in a chapter on the Vocational Psychology of Agriculture. She was the 2019 recipient of the Career Development Association of Australia’s award for Excellence in Research and is an alumnus of the National Farmers Federation 2030 Leaders program. She hopes to support individuals develop their skills and capabilities in the pursuit of a safe, satisfying, and purposeful career in food and fibre, and improve the social sustainability of the agricultural industry.
Nikki Kelly
Dr Nikki Kelly is a Research Officer in the Agri-tech Education and Extension team at CQUniversity. She has a Bachelor of Biomedical Science (First Class Honours) (JCU) and a Graduate Diploma in Education (UQ). Her PhD (JCU) was in evolutionary and developmental biology, and investigated the functional conservation of genes involved in neural system patterning. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at the Rotary Bone Marrow Research Laboratories in Melbourne, she married a grazier and moved to Rockhampton where she taught high school science, biology, and agricultural science for 15 years, striving to instill an appreciation of scientific literacy in her students. Nikki’s current research pursuits combine her interests in STEM education and agriculture, using agri-tech to engage students, educators, and industry members to increase their skills and understanding of the diverse range of careers across the agricultural supply chain. Her experience across science, STEM and education brings a unique and valued perspective to the team, in order to attract the next generation of highly skilled STEM-qualified agricultural workforce to the industry.
Dr Eloise (Elle) Fogarty has a Bachelor of Animal and Veterinary Bioscience (Hons) from the University of Sydney and a PhD in Precision Livestock from CQUniversity. Elle brings with her a varied experience in research and development, ranging from veterinary pharmaceutical clinical trial management to Agri-tech application in sheep production systems in Australia and New Zealand. More recently, she has expanded on her passion and knowledge of data analytics, in a role as a Data Analyst for the Integrity Systems Company (ISC).
She is currently a Senior Research Officer at CQUniversity, specialising in data analytics, the application of Agri-tech for animal behaviour and welfare assessment studies, agricultural education, and ensuring research findings from the Agri-tech education and extension team address industry needs and issues.
Elle Fogarty
Melissa Sullivan
Dr Melissa Sullivan works in the team as a Research Officer. Melissa completed her Doctor of Education (CQU) that explored academics' perceptions and experiences of teaching Work Integrated Learning (WIL) in Australian universities in 2021, for which she received an award for Higher Degree Research Excellence. As a Qualitative Researcher, she is interested in researching work and workplaces and investigating how to prepare professionals for work in the future. She has extensive experience teaching in universities, predominantly in Human Resource Management and Management disciplines, and has provided consultancy services for local government and non-profit organisations in Queensland.
Amy McCosker
Amy McCosker completed her Bachelor of Journalism at the University of Queensland in 2010 before embarking on a career within the ABC. The following years with the national broadcaster saw Amy working on radio, digital and TV projects with shows like the Queensland Country Hour and Landline. A keen interest in agriculture drew Amy to leaving the media arena to work with the agri-tech education and extension team at CQU.
Anna Day
Anna grew up on a mixed farming property in Western NSW. After completing a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney, Anna worked in Banking and Finance for many years in Sydney and overseas. She then returned to the country, completed a Bachelor of Education at Charles Sturt University and worked for industry to apply her knowledge and experience in the delivery of multiple agricultural projects. Bringing together her interest in educating the next generation on the importance of agriculture and her experience in program delivery, she joined the Agri-tech education and extension team in 2022 as a project officer.