Professor Hugh Bigsby visits Parul University for research & academic collaborations!
About Prof. Hugh Bigsby
Prof. Hugh Bigsby is the Dean of the Faculty of Agribusiness and Commerce at Lincoln University, New Zealand. He grew up in Canada, completed a PhD in Australia, and has worked around the world, settling in Canterbury, New Zealand, where he has lived for about thirteen years. His background is in forestry economics, and he spoke to undergraduate students of the Faculty of Agriculture at Parul University on preparing for a globalised career.
A career built across three continents
Prof. Bigsby opened with the question that framed the whole session: how does a student prepare for a globalised career? He answered first through his own path.
“So I grew up in Canada, I did a PhD in Australia, I married an Australian, I worked back in Canada, I ended up in New Zealand, and I had a chance to work around the world.”
Because the students were already grounded in a science, he wanted to talk about what they could add to that foundation to make it work anywhere in the world.
Prof. Bigsby explained that New Zealand was a strong agricultural producer but far removed from its customers, with most flights taking 10 to 14 hours. That distance makes growers think early about who’s going to purchase their produce and where, he said. New Zealand exports apples, dairy, meat, fine merino wool, and wine to export markets and relies on the sale of food to Asia for topping up its bills from other countries. He pointed out that New Zealand and India recently inked a free trade agreement, which matters because the country pays for imports through exports.
“In New Zealand, you produce what you know people want to buy and with the quality that they need.”
How a degree creates depth, breadth, and systems thinking.
Prof. Bigsby explained how a student is developed during four years of college. The first two years focus on the theory and tools of a discipline, the third on applying the tools and analysing, and the fourth year a student should be able to take an unfamiliar problem, select a tool, formulate a question, and think critically about it. This is an increasing depth, and he said that if students would like to go even further, they should consider a master’s or even a PhD.
He then explained that related disciplines were being added to the main subject, expanding the context, vs. being a generalist, being a jack of all trades, and being a master of none. The goal at Lincoln University is to have a systems approach, with the big question being, “How to grow food that will sell for a premium price somewhere in the world?” There are even students of soil, animal, and plant science there: They need to know how food is produced to be able to sell it and create value.
Reading the whole food system
He said that learning the science is one-half; the other half is the context in which it will be used. He took students through four parts of a food system: the environment of climate, rainfall, soil, and topography; the people who make decisions and how they organise, from individual farmers to cooperatives and social and cultural norms that influence what is grown and eaten, with cows being part of the food system in New Zealand, not in India; and the economy, which determines whether a farm will be viable or not. He used the latter as an example of farmer cooperatives with his own examples, such as the NZ-based Fonterra, which owns Anchor dairy products in India.
“Science doesn’t operate in a vacuum.”
His final words were grounded in the real world: ‘Develop a global perspective through your internships, study abroad, and summer schools; you will be taught to ask why things are the way they are when you are in a new place.
