Science is Golden
Good things come from small beginnings. Fiona Miller first came from Porangahau, 55km southeast of Waipukurau my home town. In August last year, the Hamilton-based agricultural scientist headed to the United States to follow in the footsteps of some of New Zealand’s most prominent citizens. She was a former Central Hawke’s Bay College student who was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Platinum Triangle Scholarship in Entrepreneurship.
The Fulbright-Platinum Triangle Scholarship in Entrepreneurship is for a talented New Zealander in a knowledge economy-related field to complete a Master’s degree at an American University and to gain professional work experience in the US and in New Zealand. Only one highly prestigious and competitive scholarship is offered each year to an emerging entrepreneur who shows academic excellence, leadership potential and the ability to make a real contribution to the development of New Zealand’s knowledge economy, as well as be a cultural ambassador for New Zealand.
The scholarship is granted for advanced academic study in the USA and contributes $USD 100,000 ($131,000) towards the cost of a two-year Masters in Business Administration (MBA) programme at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. The award also provides the opportunity for her to undertake an internship in the US on the completion of MBA studies.
Fiona grew up on a deer farm in Central Hawkes Bay and spent a lot of time on farms owned by her mother’s family. She showed an interest in agriculture from an early age. “We spent a lot of time on our uncle’s farms at Porangahau as kids, helping with docking and in the yards during shearing. Our parents also encouraged us to embark on farm-based ‘business ventures’ as children, so I raised and sold bobby calves to earn a bit of extra pocket money. My brother had ewes and lambs, while my sister opted to trade weaner stags.”
Combined with a scientific curiosity, no doubt inherited from her science teacher mother this farming interest led Fiona to pursue a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Applied Science (Honours) in Animal Science at Massey University in Palmerston North. Since graduating, her career has focused on science and technology in the agricultural field. Fiona has worked at Massey University’s Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Hamilton-based dairy genetics company Livestock Improvement, New Zealand’s largest Crown Research Institute, AgResearch and the University of Waikato’s technology transfer company, WaikatoLink Limited.
Over this period, her career has evolved from research, to project management, science management, commercial strategy and, most recently, technology commercialisation. “Two of the projects I managed at WaikatoLink in the green technology space formed part of a seed package deal which attracted investment from Endeavour Capital,” Fiona said.
“Now known as the start-up companies Novatein and Nouvoa, the technologies involved created bioplastic from animal waste, and extract higher value products from waste biomass undergoing anaerobic digestion (a process which usually generates biogas), respectively.
“Earlier in my career, while working at Massey University and then Livestock Improvement, working with Dorian Garrick and Richard Spelman, I developed the research programme and implementation plan for a major gene discovery research programme in dairy cattle funded by what was then the New Zealand Dairy Board. “This trial identified the genetic factors responsible for important production traits, for use in industry, and valuable results are still being generated from this trial’s data entry today.” That study was conducted on 1000 animals over eight years at a cost of $15 million. That passion for seeing business opportunities created from science is what has driven the aspiring technology entrepreneur from the lab bench to the US.
The close proximity to venture capital, strong connections with technology-based industry and its world-class reputation led Fiona to choose to pursue her MBA studies at the Haas School of Business. Through the intensive two-year programme, her studies will encompass accounting, economics and leadership but will also offer the opportunity to specialise in areas particularly relevant to her chosen career field, such as entrepreneurship and technology.
The 31-year-old has also been offered a Haas Merit Scholarship, which will cover the substantial international tuition fees of around $USD 40,000 per annum. She sees an MBA as a logical stepping stone to enable her to realise her career aspirations in technology commercialisation in agriculture and biotechnology.
“Coming from a science background, I have no formal business training and have had to learn on the job and from those around me,” she said. “The Fulbright scholarship and Haas MBA programme offer me a fantastic opportunity to develop a solid foundation in business management and leadership at a world-class business school, while acquiring skills and experience in areas of particular interest to me. I believe this will equip me to translate agricultural and biologically-based technologies into business.”
Fiona, who also attended Waipukurau and Takapau Primary Schools, retains strong links with Central Hawke’s Bay. Parents Kathy and Ray were both teachers at the local college before they took the family – Fiona, older sister Rachel, who is now working as a dairy farm consultant in Manawatu, and younger brother David, who plays polo for the Wanstead club in Porangahau and in England to Waikato in 1991.
“Our family shifted to the Waikato in my later secondary school years but I still very much consider myself to be from Hawkes Bay,” she said. “I have a lot of family living in Porangahau who I visit regularly and have interests in a farm there. Porangahau will definitely be the place I get most homesick for when I am in the States!” Fiona said on completion of her studies and internship in 2010 she plans to return home.
“This award is a fantastic opportunity for me and I’m very excited about what lies ahead. But this isn’t going to be another case of brain-drain, once I’ve finished my studies and internship, I’ll be coming back here to New Zealand to put to use what I’ve learnt and the contacts I’ve made and will be looking to do this in the agricultural/ag-biotech space.”
The scholarship was awarded at a ceremony at the Beehive by Winston Peters, New Zealand’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, and William McCormick, US Ambassador to New Zealand. A further 26 New Zealand students were also awarded Fulbright scholarships to pursue research or studies in the United States in a range of other fields, including science, engineering, law and the arts.
It’s wonderful to see former Central Hawke’s Bay College students taking a bow on the world stage. I’m sure some of you reading this will remember Fiona’s parents Kathy and Ray well. The School motto is “Achieve with Honour” and so she has. We can all feel proud of Fiona’s achievements, Science is indeed Golden.
