A SELF-confessed "city girl" who knew nothing about agriculture growing up is doing her bit to raise the profile of the sector as a career option for high school students.
Steph Coombes, 22, has just graduated with first-class honours from a Bachelor of Agricultural Science at the University of Western Australia. She topped her year and is waiting for the results of her thesis into dark-cutting beef to be publicly released.
Last November she attended the Young Beef Producers' Forum in Roma and was last week a participant in the National Farmers' Federation industry round-table into the shortage of labour in Australian agriculture.
In December Steph (pictured) created Careers in Australian Agriculture, which she hopes will go some way to raising the profile of agriculture as a career option.
The website is not-for-profit, and profiles people who currently work in agriculture. It features links to agricultural courses at universities across the country and also has video profiles.
Steph said she wanted to challenge some of the misconceptions about a career in agriculture.
"I want to dispel the myths that you have to work on a farm and be a McLeod's Daughter if you want to work in agriculture," she said.
Steph grew up in Perth and went to Woodvale Secondary College. While she loved biology at school, and studied vet nursing as a subject in Year 11, agriculture was never suggested to her as a career option.
After graduating from university last year, Steph will now take 2012 as a gap year, most of which she will spend working on a live export property, Yarrie Station at Marble Bar, near Broome.
She is also currently on the waiting list to board a live export ship, the industry she hopes to work in.
Since launching the website late last year, Steph already has more than 40 profiles uploaded. The website has also created a stir on Twitter since Steph started an account last month.
"I've been getting a huge, positive response," she said.
"The website is really to show somebody who lives in the city or the suburbs and in high school that there are all these different career paths.
"There are so many opportunities. You don't have to work on a farm, you don't have to be out bush doing a physical labour-intensive job, you can work in a skyscraper if you want to; you can be completely city-bound and still be a part of the industry."
Steph said she had profiles from people working in a range of different careers from right across the country.
"Anybody is welcome to have a profile, whether you're a ringer having a gap year up north or a CEO, we're looking for a whole range of careers," she said.
Steph hopes high schools will jump on board and promote her website to students. Her former high school has already jumped on board and long-term, Steph hopes to speak at high schools across Australia.
"My dream is to run an incursion program where I can go to high schools and talk to students about agriculture and the opportunities that exist," she said.
Visit www.ausagcareers.tumblr.com ; Twitter: @ausagadventures - Picture: SARAH COULTON.
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