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Caroline Kerr
My life as a scientist
At the moment, I'm working with pigs! Like people, some pigs can
get stressed and when they do, they can get sick and don't grow
so fast. It's not always easy for farmers to tell when animals are
stressed, so we are trying to develop a simple test for them to
use. My research team has identified some 'stress' genes in pigs
so maybe farmers can breed pigs that don't have them.
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"I have always wanted to discover new
things and be creative. With science, I get to do both these
things all the time and I get paid for it!" |
How I got here
I became interested in working with animals through spending my
time with the cattle, goats and horses on my parents' farm. I wanted
to work in a job where I could be creative so I chose science. And
because I have always had a passion for animal welfare, I decided
to specialise in animal stress.
I studied Agricultural Science at the University of Sydney and specialised
in Animal Husbandry. I also completed a PhD in skin cancer research
at the University of Sydney.
Fave music: U2
Fave food: Thai
Fave movie:
The Matrix
Fave book: Anything by Bryce
Courtney |
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What I think of science as a career
I have always wanted to discover new things and be creative. With
science, I get to do both these things all the time and I get paid
for it! And because it is so flexible, I can balance family life
with my job.
Stress is a new area of study in animal science. It's really important,
because if we can reduce stress for animals, we can make their life
better. Also our findings maybe important for stressed people.
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