Advertisement
Sponsored

Flinders students lead Channel 9 Young Achievers

Mar 27, 2015

Flinders University students and alumni are leading the charge in this weekend’s Channel 9 Young Achiever Awards in South Australia.

Saskia Gerhardy and Patrick Taggart, pictured, both conservation and biodiversity students at Flinders, are among the four finalists vying for the Young Achiever conservation award while software engineering graduate Joshua Morony is in the running for the online award.

Ms Gerhardy, in her second year of a bachelor degree, has dedicated herself to rescuing orphaned, injured or sick animals and helps with local programs to monitor endangered animals.

The Willunga conservationist, who grew up taking in sick and injured small animals on her family’s property, also leads a group of local high school-aged environmentalists to be active in local environmental projects and co-ordinates the EnviroKids program at Willunga Primary.

“I was always very passionate about animals and always liked looking after them from a really young age,” said Ms Gerhardy, 19, whose parents are also conservationists.

“I’ve always loved being outdoors and I guess when you’re really young, you don’t realise there’s so many environmental problems going on. As I got older though, I gained a greater awareness of the damage that had been done to the earth and I just wanted to be a part of finding solutions.”

Mr Taggart, of Victor Harbor, also took an interest in native fauna and flora from a young age and today has aspirations to pursue a career in the field of environment, conservation and sustainability after completing his PhD.

He has already received a number of environmental awards and scholarships and has spoken at schools, Rotary Clubs and Flinders University on current threats impinging on Australia’s unique flora, fauna and ecosystems.

“Growing up I was lucky enough to have a dad who worked in the field of conservation. I would regularly head out with him on research trips so I was exposed to the amazing wildlife and environments Australia has to offer,” the 21-year-old said.

“I always remember wanting to hold and touch animals and plants that I was shown, always turning over logs or rocks for creatures while out on bush walks or around home.”

Like most other Generation Y kids, Mr Morony grew up with a keen interest in video games and technology.

However, it was by the age of 14 that the self-proclaimed “IT geek” started to delve into creating websites and within a short time was building complex web applications.

The entrepreneurial 22-year-old today not only develops his own apps for smartphones and androids, but teaches other app developers worldwide via his online blog.

Mr Morony’s website www.joshmorony.com – which attracts more than 300 visits a day – provides free content to app developers and sells his eBooks and tutorials.

He also co-founded a mobile development studio www.monkeydostudio.com.au which helps clients develop their mobile apps, as well as providing a platform for creating his own mobile apps, two of which are soon to be released commercially.

“I’ve always liked building cool things and felt that a software engineering degree would enhance my design and development skills and help me get into the professional IT world,” Mr Morony said.

After graduating from Flinders with first class honours, Mr Morony, of Seacliff Park, was formerly employed at the New Venture Institute (NVI), the university’s centre for innovation and entrepreneurship, before his own business ventures took over much of his time.

“For a long time I’ve been interested in online entrepreneurship and I made a few awful attempts at making some money – it’s not until recently that my side ventures have started paying off for me,” he said.

“The connections I’ve made through Flinders University have been a huge help in kick starting my professional development.”

 

Local News Matters
Advertisement
Copyright © 2024 InDaily.
All rights reserved.