Zoi Petersen

2024 | Horticulture

Zoi Petersen and her employer, the Adelaide Botanic Garden are participating in our 2024 pilot program for Employer Supported Scholarships. Read more about this pilot.

“I take pride in knowing that I play a role in helping the ecosystem remain balanced, and tending to a garden that not only holds beauty, but a rich history.”

My name is Zoi Petersen and I am a 2024 Global Footprints Scholar in horticulture.

I completed my work placement at Waimea Nurseries in New Zealand. Waimea Nurseries is a leading supplier of trees in New Zealand, focusing on quality crops such as hops, apples, kiwifruit and many ornamental trees.

During my time at Waimea, I gained valuable experience through learning the process of tissue culture propagation and working to deflask and set over 1,000 plants each round.

From green waste management to water recycling in the nursery, I learnt a lot about sustainability in New Zealand.

What really stood out to me was the Cravo, which has a retractable roof and walls to utilise the weather, as well as a bottom-watering system that recycles any unused water.

Alongside this, they use Ellepots, which offer better root quality and easier handling when potting up plants. It was a smooth and efficient process in the workplace.

I also had the opportunity to attend and participate in a workshop hosted by ICL Australia and New Zealand on more sustainable forms of fertilisation and weed management, as well as tour local council sites and wetlands undergoing native revegetation.

I then had the honour of meeting workers from surrounding nurseries to learn how each workplace supports one another through sharing ideas and methods surrounding sustainable practices.

This helped me realise that any idea, big or small, is still a big step forward in teamwork and sustainability.

Aside from work and sustainability, I also learnt a lot about myself. Coming back to Australia, I noticed I had a lot more confidence in myself and the work that I do.

From the trial and error of finding a work placement in another country, to planning and preparing for my first trip overseas, making the most of my free time by exploring the beautiful scenery of New Zealand and making friends with the wonderful people I worked alongside.

This experience was challenging, supportive, eye-opening and, overall, the opportunity of a lifetime.

I would like to thank BBM for making this opportunity possible and thank the team at Waimea Nurseries for ensuring that I got the most out of my time there.

I would also like to thank the friends and family who supported me during this exciting time.

I am truly excited to see how this scholarship impacts my future, both personally and professionally, and I can’t wait to see the journeys that future scholars embark on.

Zoi’s scholarship relates to these UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs):