Sue McCoard
Scientist
Animal Metabolism
"Think for yourself, learn new things and make a real difference."
Biographical Information
"A career in science allows you to think for yourself, keep learning new things and make a real difference."
That's the view of Dr Sue McCoard, who won the very prestigious NZBio Emerging Biotechnologist of the Year Award for 2005. Sue is a Senior Research Scientist in the Metabolism & Microbial Genomics section and her work involves identifying and understanding certain genes in dairy cows that could lead to ways of producing milk with special properties.
"This work offers some innovative and positive long term opportunities to keep the New Zealand dairy industry internationally competitive."
Sue first wanted to be a scientist when she was in primary school and she says it's proved to be a great career choice.
"Working as a scientist in New Zealand provides fantastic opportunities for young researchers to accelerate their scientific careers while balancing lifestyle choices."
"I have the luxury of working with a world class research team on a project that uses state of the art technology, resources and internationally sought after expertise."
Sue says science careers are vital for New Zealand's future development.
"To me a career in science is important as it allows me to feel like I am able to make a difference and that I am making a worthwhile contribution to society, particularly to the agricultural sector."
Sue says the science subjects she took at school helped convince her to take up a career in science.
"I really enjoyed all the sciences, biology, chemistry and physics, at school."
"These classes allowed me to learn about science and showed me I had a true passion for biology which I found both interesting and fun to learn."
Outside of her work as a scientist Sue likes to spend time with her family caring for various animals on their lifestyle block and being involved in outdoor activities like water skiing and camping.