Wexford native, James Cullen, a PhD student in the Eco-Innovation Research Centre (EIRC) at South East Technological University (SETU), was recently awarded 3,000 through the Society of Feed Technologists Edgar Pye Research Scholarship fund.
James, a graduate of the BSc in Molecular Biology with Biopharmaceutical Science and a final year PhD student, was one of only three awardees of this competitive fund.
The award was based on his proposal to investigate the impact of sanitisation of a liquid feeding system for pigs on the bacterial and fungal microbiota of liquid feed and of the liquid feeding system itself.
As part of the award, James, from Foulksmills, Co. Wexford, was invited to present his findings at the Society of Feed Technologists/Pig Veterinary Society joint pig conference, held in Birmingham in November.
Earlier this year, James was also awarded the British Society of Animal Science (BSAS) Industry Prize Award, which was sponsored by Kepak. He presented his work on optimising the hygiene of liquid feeding systems for pigs at the 2023 BSAS conference.
Based on his submission, James was shortlisted to give an additional presentation to industry representatives to highlight the impact of his research, and based on this, he was awarded the industry prize.
Microbial quality
James’ PhD focuses on the microbial quality of liquid feed for pigs and how strategies to optimise feed microbial quality might impact the feed and pig gut microbiome.
The PhD is supervised by Professor Gillian Gardiner from the EIRC within SETU Waterford's Department of Science, Dr Peadar Lawlor from the Pig Development Department in Teagasc Moorepark, and Dr Paul Cormican from the Animal Bioscience Research Centre in Teagasc Grange. James is funded by an Irish Research Council Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship, a SETU PhD Scholarship, and a Higher Education Authority grant.
Speaking of his gratitude for being awarded both the Edgar Pye Research Scholarship and the BSAS Industry Prize Award, James said, “Being awarded the Edgar Pye Research Scholarship was hugely beneficial, allowing me to perform more research in the area of liquid feeding systems, and to present the work to the feed industry.
"I was also delighted to be able to demonstrate the positive impact of my research on the pig production industry at BSAS 2023 and was honoured to receive the BSAS Industry Award in recognition of this.”
