WISA Bursary Program

WISA Bursary Program

Women in Seafood Australasia offer bursaries to seafood women to attend key industry
events and conferences. The bursaries are designed for women, who are passionate about
their work and the seafood industry, and who want to develop their networks, connections,
and capacity. The experience for bursary holders is an immersive and supported one, WISA
provide opportunities to join in and work with the organisation during our activities,
workshops, and initiatives. WISA provide opportunities to network with other bursary holders,
WISA members and the wider seafood industry.

In 2023, WISA in partnership with the Australian Centre for International Agricultural
Research provided bursaries to 7 successful applicants throughout the Asia Pacific region to attend the World Aquaculture Conference held in Darwin. Each bursary holder was supported by WISA before the event, during and after. WISA encouraged and facilitated connecting with the other bursars throughout all stages of the program and in advance of the event. This was managed with scheduled online catch ups and a closed group chat. Our bursars continue to use this group after the event to reflect on their experience and stay in touch!

Bursars are invited beyond the event to join the WISA Bursary alumni where we enable our
growing group of inspiring women to continue to connect.

Selection criteria for WISA bursaries include giving priority to women without other means to
attend, to women who wouldn’t normally take these opportunities, and the diversity of
women is an important consideration for us during the selection process.

Below some testimonials from our 2023 Bursary Alumni.

“It was wonderful to meet all the other women who received a bursary, we come from a diverse background, and I feel like I was able to learn something from each of them. The Breaking Barriers workshop [held at the conference] was interesting and highlighted many of the issues we still face. It is also a good reminder that we are not alone and there is power in numbers. Overall, I think really the entire conference was a highlight. I would never have been able to attend if it wasn’t for receiving a bursary”
– Jassy Andrews, Tasmanian Oyster Farmer
“The opportunity to be able to meet all the other passionate bursary holders was wonderful. Being able to come together with a range of different women from a range of different backgrounds and industries gives an opportunity to open your eyes as to what else is out there, and what the possibilities within this vast industry are, and not just what you know within your sector. Being there together as a group was a wonderful thing in that you didn’t feel lost and alone, so many of the girls knew other people and they were able to introduce you to them, and you could do the same for them. Being able to be a part of the WISA workshop was also a little step out of the comfort zone, but having that responsibility was something to be proud of and again worked as another way to boost confidence.”
– Kirsten Beames, Darwin Aquaculturist
“The WISA networking events allowed me to meet a whole range of people from all different areas in the aquaculture space, it also allowed me to reconnect with people whom I had met during my studies and earlier in my career. These networking events were just so invaluable, I met so many people who are so influential in this field and I also received some amazing career advice. I was also able to have some discussions about some of my work with people I had met earlier in my career and got feedback, which I have since been able to apply to my work already.  The bursary was truly all inclusive, the addition of the per diem rates meant that there was truly no stress at all about going to Darwin and attending the conference. The WISA team were so helpful and responsive to any questions I had and were very supportive! I loved the addition of the T-Shirt in the package, I felt so proud to wear it and loved that it helped unify us!” 
– Leni Donselaar, Queensland Aquaculturist