Agriland journalist, Eva Osborne-Sherlock has been shortlisted in Ireland's National Student Media Awards, known as the ‘Smedias’.
Her article: ‘Digestate: A sustainable fertiliser alternative?’ has been shortlisted in the SFI (Science Foundation Ireland) Journalism Relating to Science and Technology category.
The article was published on Agriland in January followed research and reporting by Osborne-Sherlock at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition (BTYSTE).
Agriland journalist
Eva Osborne-Sherlock, is undertaking a Bachelor of Arts undergraduate degree in journalism and English at the University of Galway.
Originally from Co. Cavan, she currently lives in a rural area of Co. Meath. Her family, who come from a farming background, are now involved in farm machinery maintenance and she has a keen interest in all things digital, media and agriculture.
She joined Agriland Media Group as an intern on the editorial team in September 2022 and has covered and reported on events such as farming conferences, BTYSTE and the National Ploughing Championships.
Shortlisted article
Osborne-Sherlock’s article featured and interview with Roscommon Community College student, Sean Allen.
Sean’s project, titled ‘The long-term effects of a more sustainable method of keeping nutrients in the soil as an alternative to an artificially made granule’, won first place in the biological and ecological senior individual category of the BTYSTE.
The journalist researched Sean’s project, to gain a full understanding on his idea, which was to test digestate and waste milk as an alternative to 10-10-20 fertiliser.
The student hoped that it would prove to be a better, more sustainable, and more cost-effective way of keeping nutrients in the soil, with the challenging cost of fertiliser over recent months.
The project revealed a mix of digestate and waste milk was the best for grass growth and that it grew more, on average, compared to the other treatments tested.
Sean’s teacher, Conall Moore was so impressed by the project that he is implementing Sean’s project findings on a larger scale – on his own farm.
Smedias
The awards ceremony takes place on April 20, at the Aviva stadium in Dublin.
The winning journalist in this category will receive a prize fund of €1,000 as part of the SFI Student Journalism Bursary and will be invited to write an article to be published on the SFI website.
