Liz Alexander Bursary awarded to 2027 AgTech innovator

• Amelia Unthank has been awarded the 2027 Liz Alexander Bursary for Leadership in AgTech and Innovation.
• The award recognises leadership, collaboration and innovation in Queensland agriculture.
• The bursary is being awarded for the second year.

The 2027 Liz Alexander Bursary for Leadership in AgTech and Innovation has been awarded to Amelia Unthank for her emerging leadership and work developing and implementing practical, scalable technology solutions tailored to northern Queensland production systems.

Ms Unthank, 26, lives and works on a cattle station in Cloncurry, where she leads the evaluation and implementation of AgTech solutions across a large northern Queensland beef operation.

Her work focuses on analytics, genomics, remote monitoring, carbon accounting and digital farm management systems.

Growing up in a family involved in livestock agency, Ms Unthank has seen first-hand the commercial pressures facing producers and regional communities, informing her focus on practical technology solutions that respond to the needs of the beef industry.

She has also contributed to the development of Agscent, a breath-based pregnancy testing tool for livestock, working on its predictive algorithm and sample collection processes.

The technology aims to enable earlier, non-invasive pregnancy detection, helping to make the process faster and less stressful for livestock.

Ms Unthank is also focused on ensuring AgTech is designed around the people who use it, with her work exploring how producers' needs and priorities can inform the development of practical technology solutions.

Ms Unthank holds a bachelor’s degree in science (Bioengineering Systems) and is currently undertaking a master’s degree in computer science. She is also co-founder of The Primary Source, an online platform providing news and information for the Australian agriculture industry.

The Liz Alexander Bursary for Leadership in AgTech and Innovation celebrates the legacy of Liz Alexander, a visionary leader from Emerald who played a pivotal role in shaping Queensland’s AgTech ecosystem.

The $3,000 bursary will support Ms Unthank to attend evokeAG. 2027, the Asia Pacific’s premier agrifood innovation event, as part of a Queensland delegation representing the state’s vibrant AgTech ecosystem.

Deputy Director-General of Agriculture Peter Donaghy said Ms Unthank’s work demonstrated the value of practical innovation in helping Queensland’s agricultural industry meet emerging challenges and improve on-farm outcomes.

“Amelia’s work demonstrates how innovation and technology can deliver practical benefits for Queensland producers, helping improve decision-making and support more productive and sustainable farming operations,” Mr Donaghy said.

“Her contribution to the development of Agscent is a great example of how new ideas can be translated into practical solutions for agricultural challenges, bringing together technology, research and industry knowledge to drive progress in the sector.

“Now in its second year, the Liz Alexander Bursary is helping build the next generation of AgTech leaders to drive innovation across our primary industries. Supporting leaders like Amelia is critical as we work toward growing Queensland’s primary production output to $30 billion by 2030.”

Quotes

Amelia Unthank, winner of the 2027 Liz Alexander Bursary for Leadership in AgTech and Innovation

“I’m honoured to receive this bursary, especially because of what Liz Alexander stood for.  She showed that some of the best agtech thinking in Queensland comes from people who live and work in the regions, and that’s exactly where I want to be working.

“I’m an engineer at heart. I like pulling a problem apart, working out what’s actually going on, and building something that fixes it. Agriculture is full of those problems.

“You don’t have to leave the bush to work at the cutting edge. Some of the most interesting problems in agtech lie in (extra)ordinary agricultural operations.”

Contact

Email media@dpi.qld.gov.au.