Helen Woodland is the Partner Up Queensland Regional Science and Innovation Network Darling Downs and South West Queensland Regional Coordinator based in Toowoomba. 
Helen’s career spans agricultural research, banking and finance, exports and international business and regional development. Helen grew up on two farming operations in Queensland and has completed a Bachelor of Agricultural Science.
Helen is not only a Regional Coordinator for the Partner Up project, but is also the 2022 Chair of the AgForce Queensland Young Producers Council. She is proud to support those in primary industry and regional communities.
Regional Coordinator role
Helen’s role as a Regional Coordinator is to foster collaboration and leverage on the power of partnerships to promote greater adoption of science and innovation to enhance our quality of life and support economic resilience. In practice, Regional Coordinators support events, activities and projects that encourage Queenslanders’ participation and awareness of science and innovation within their region.
Achievements (so far!)
Helen has been busy connecting and working with various groups across the region, amplifying the objectives of the program and making connections for positive outcomes.
Meet the Hub – a networking evening
Helen organised and facilitated this informative evening, with an engaged group of educators, industry professionals and government representatives in attendance. Fantastic discussions were had about STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) engagement and where our attention should be to ensure the next generation of innovators are nurtured and engaged.
Events like these also highlight the scope and enthusiasm for all-things STEM in the Darling Downs and South West region.
Secondary Teacher Professional Development Day
The Secondary Teacher Professional Development Day showcased science and technology initiatives happening locally in the Darling Downs region. Helen organised and facilitated this event, with 16 teachers from eight schools and organisations in attendance.
The conversations ranged from data trends and connectivity, agtech advancements and the skills sets that Australian agriculture now requires for food and fibre production, and also how these technologies are being adapted to improve our quality of life not only in our local area, but also in supporting space exploration!
This event was supported by nbn® Australia , Agtech and Logistics Hub and University of Southern Queensland who shared their insights with the teachers and educators.
Supporting local schools to enhance environmental science learnings
Helen assisted Darling Downs and South West STEM Hub’s successful grant application with Inspiring Australia, for the Amaroo Environmental Education Centre inaugural Bio Blitz Year 10 Student Camp and Community Showcase event. Helen provided grant writing and marketing support for this event, which was hosted at Amaroo Environmental Education Centre at Kleinton, near Toowoomba.
The Science of Sport – a STEM networking event
The Partner Up Queensland Regional Science and Innovation Network, supported by the Darling Downs and South West STEM Hub, is partnering with The Fit Lab to bring 'The Science of Sport' event to the region in October 2022.
Attendees will get to hear from Steve Nance, Fit Lab’s High-Performance Consultant and Coach, who has worked with the Australian Wallabies, North Queensland Cowboys, Brisbane Broncos and Queensland Reds, just to name a few!
This event will delve into how strength and conditioning training has evolved and how the monitoring and data analysis is now used in high performance sport.
Find out more
Visit the Partner Up Queensland webpage to find out more about this initiative.
Stay up to date on our social channels to find out what’s happening in each region and ways you can get involved.
