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Australian Poultry Science Symposium: Reflecting on Thirty Years of Science Communication

Published: April 26, 2021
By: W.L. Bryden – University of Queensland, Australia
Summary

Since its inception, thirty years ago, the Australian Poultry Science Symposium (APSS) has continued to grow and provide a venue for knowledge exchange of the latest developments and trends in the application of science to the poultry industry. It has achieved its aim to become an important international poultry science meeting. In so doing, APSS has showcased Australian poultry research and provided an invaluable opportunity for young scientists to communicate their achievements and to network.

I. INTRODUCTION
The first Australian Poultry Science Symposium (APSS) occurred in February 1989 and has continued annually at that time, since then. Until 2016, APSS was held at the University of Sydney but is now held in a prestigious Sydney hotel. This year, 2019 marks the 30th occasion on which APSS has been held but it is 31 years since the inaugural meeting. The discrepancy occurs because the World’s Poultry Congress occurred in Brisbane in 2008 and it was decided not to hold the symposium that year. It is timely to recall briefly some pertinent events in the history of APSS and the role that it has played in Australia in both poultry science research and the scientific advancement of poultry production in Australia.
II. HISTORY
In 1987 the President of the Australian Branch of WPSA, Dr Bruce Sheldon, approached the Poultry Research Foundation (PRF) within the University of Sydney with a proposal to combine resources and organise an annual national conference. The PRF had been conducting a very successful annual meeting for a number of years and the plan was to expand that meeting into an annual APSS, commencing in 1989. Professors Derick Balnave and Frank Annison (2014) have provided a detailed historical account of the formation of the APSS. The aim was to present an annual conference that would attain the status of a national/international meeting. To this end all submitted papers were to be refereed. A high priority was to maintain scientific merit while providing information of relevance to all sectors of the poultry industry. Special provision was to be provided for presentations by postgraduate students.
There can be no doubt that APSS has achieved these aims and in this regard special mention must be made of Derick Balnave and Frank Annison who represented the University and PRF, Dr Bob Pym who represented WPSA, and Dr Balkar Bains who was the President of PRF (1981-1998). Their combined efforts in the formative years of APSS established the foundation and traditions for the ongoing success of the Symposium. The international status achieved by the APSS was demonstrated by the comments of the respected journalist William A. Dudley-Cash writing in the US magazine “Feedstuffs” in April 2001. He stated, “one of the most outstanding poultry science symposiums is sponsored by the Poultry Research Foundation of the University of Sydney and the Australian Branch of the World’s Poultry Science Association”. It is not widely known that both the Australasian Dairy Science Symposium (established 2004) and the Australasian Equine Science Symposium (established 2006) are modelled on APSS. This is further testament to the successful formulae developed by APSS.
III. KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE
In discussing papers presented at APSS, no distinction is made between invited, long or short (abstracts) papers. Throughout the history of the APSS, some 1,684 papers have been published of which 293 (17.4%) were invited contributions. Most invited speakers have come from universities or research institutions in North America and Europe. Some invited speakers have been employed by the major companies that service the global poultry industry.
At the first symposium in 1989, 29 papers were presented and the greatest number of papers (84) was presented in 2017. Over the years a similar range of topics has been covered (Table 1), largely reflecting research in Australia. A snapshot of topics by year is shown in Table 1 and the categories or topics are those used in Poultry Science; the exception is that Feedstuffs, Additives and Toxicology has been separated from Metabolism and Nutrition and Meat and Egg Science added. Papers were only allocated to one category but a number could have been assigned to up to three categories.
AUSTRALIA - AUSTRALIAN POULTRY SCIENCE SYMPOSIUM: REFLECTING ON THIRTY YEARS OF SCIENCE COMMUNICATION - Image 1
Although the Symposium covers a wide breadth of topics, it is dominated by nutrition with 40-50% of papers dealing with that aspect of poultry production that accounts for 60-70% of production costs. In some years, feed enzyme papers have dominated this area and the first enzyme paper at APSS appears in the second proceedings (Classen and Campbell, 1990). By comparison, the percentage of papers in other categories is small with the exception of disease related papers that increase when the Australian Veterinary Poultry Association holds an overlapping meeting in Sydney. The other area that has gradually increased is welfare, reflecting both research funding for this area and growing public concern. It is interesting to note that the majority of papers categorised as meat and eggs relate to egg and eggshell quality.
Over the years, invited papers, which are an up to date review, have covered all the topics listed in Table 1. However, often the short papers contain cutting edge results. As John McLeish commented, “One cannot give enough recognition to the short papers presented at APSS and included in the Proceedings. In many instances, the 1-page papers are precursors to full papers in peer-reviewed journals but they have already been presented at APSS, in some cases several years in advance of their full publication. A vast amount of research work has been extended to the poultry industries….” (McLeish, 2014).
On occasion, papers have been presented that have provided a historical perspective on a topic which has highlighted how advances in science are built incrementally on the shoulders of others. These have included papers on infectious bronchitis (Cumming, 1994), genetics (Hunton, 1997), feed milling (Darling, 1998) and the poultry industry (Kerin, 2013). Professor Rob Cumming, University of New England, attended all the early meetings of APSS and could be relied upon to generate discussion in all areas of poultry science. Interestingly, Mr John Darling had been instrumental in the formation of the PRF and was its initial Chairman (now known as President, 1959-1969). He and his family had been involved in the stock feed industry when it commenced as a sideline to flour milling in the 1950s. Dr Peter Hunton, from Canada, was former global President of WPSA and the Honourable John Kerin is former Commonwealth Minister of Agriculture, poultry farmer and Chairman of the Poultry CRC.
Volume 23 (2012) is unique in that it contains addresses by the Presidents of the two global poultry associations; WPSA (Dr Bob Pym, University of Queensland) and the World Veterinary Poultry Association (Dr Trevor Bagust, University of Melbourne) (Bagust, 2012; Pym, 2012). In that year, the President of both organisations was an Australian, a situation that is unlikely to occur again.
IV. RECOGNITION
The Australian Branch of WPSA has presented the Australian Poultry Award, annually since 1964. With the growing importance of the APSS the Australian Branch of WPSA arranged for this presentation to be made at the official APSS dinner. This award is made to an Australian resident who has made an outstanding contribution to poultry science or to the Australian poultry industry.
Shortly after his death in 1982, the WPSA with the support of the PRF introduced the WPSA Syd Wilkins Prize. Syd Wilkins was a major figure in the Australian poultry scene being President of the Australian Branch of the WPSA, a Vice-President of the world body of WPSA and for many years Deputy President of the PRF. The award was presented for excellence in poultry research conducted by a young poultry scientist in Australia and the recipient presented at APSS.
On a number of occasions, time has been set aside at the Symposium to recognise the contribution of poultry industry identities who have recently died; Rob Cumming (Bryden et al., 2003), Bruce Sheldon (Pym et al., 2004), Jack Ingham (Fairbrother, 2004) and John Barnett (Cronin et al., 2011).
V. COMMITTEES AND SPONSORS
The ongoing success of APSS has been largely due to two committees (Table 2). The Organising Committee, which comprises members from PRF, WPSA and industry, has overall responsibility for the meeting and in attracting sponsorship. The excellent presentation of the Proceedings has been the responsibility of the Editorial Committee, whose chair edits the Proceedings. The Chairs of these Committees are listed in Table 2 and they deserve our special thanks, as their efforts that have been pivotal to the continued success of APSS.
The PRF secretary, who also coordinates the day-to-day conference organisation, ably supports both committees. Mrs Deirdre Pudney and Mrs Noelene West provided efficient and tireless support for the first thirteen years of APSS. Mrs Pudney retired from the Foundation in 2001 followed by Mrs West in 2003. Since then, Mrs Jo-Ann Geist has continued to fill this demanding and supportive role in similarly efficient manner.
AUSTRALIA - AUSTRALIAN POULTRY SCIENCE SYMPOSIUM: REFLECTING ON THIRTY YEARS OF SCIENCE COMMUNICATION - Image 2
A significant contribution to the ongoing success of APSS has been sponsorship by industry companies, both local and international. The level of sponsorship has increased over time, which reflects the standing of APSS with the industry. In particular, the financial support received from the Australian Chicken Meat and Egg Research (later Australian Egg Corporation Limited, now Australian Eggs) Councils was extremely important in establishing the symposia and their contributions are worthy of particular mention. Both groups have sponsored all APSS symposia.
VI. NETWORKING
For many attending APSS, it is an excellent opportunity to network. Informal meetings during session breaks, meetings organised by companies, or attending the pre-registration informal debate or forum on the Sunday evening prior to the official opening of the symposium, are features of APSS. The symposium gala dinner was held in St John’s or St Andrew’s Colleges of the University of Sydney followed by a nightcap at the Prince Alfred Hotel for many years. The dinner now alternates between various prestigious non-University venues in Sydney or on Sydney Harbour.
VII. REFLECTION
Over the last thirty years, APSS has continued to grow and provide a venue for knowledge exchange of the latest developments and trends in the poultry industry. It has become an important international poultry science meeting. In so doing, APSS has showcased Australian poultry research and provided an invaluable opportunity for young scientists to communicate their achievements.
Abstract presented at the 30th Annual Australian Poultry Science Symposium 2019. For information on the latest edition and future events, check out https://www.apss2021.com.au/.

Bagust TJ (2012) Proceedings of the Australian Poultry Science Symposium 23: 151-158.

Balnave D & Annison EF (2014) Proceedings of the Australian Poultry Science Symposium 25: i-iv.

Bryden WL, Pym RAE & Annison EF (2003) Proceedings of the Australian Poultry Science Symposium 15: 1-6.

Classen HL & Campbell GL (1990) Proceedings of the Australian Poultry Science Symposium 2: 1-8.

Cronin GM, Glatz PC & Hemsworth PH (2011) Proceedings of the Australian Poultry Science Symposium 22: i-vii.

Cumming RB (1994) Proceedings of the Australian Poultry Science Symposium 6: 101-106.

Darling J (1998) Proceedings of the Australian Poultry Science Symposium 10: 73-75.

Fairbrother J (2004) Proceedings of the Australian Poultry Science Symposium 16: vi-viii.

Hunton P (1997) Proceedings of the Australian Poultry Science Symposium 9: 79-84.

Kerin J (2013) Proceedings of the Australian Poultry Science Symposium 24: 1-2.

McLeish J (2014) Proceedings of the Australian Poultry Science Symposium 25: v.

Pym RAE (2012) Proceedings of the Australian Poultry Science Symposium 23: 159-167.

Pym RAE, Roberts RW, Perez-Maldonado R & Simmons M (2004) Proceedings of the Australian Poultry Science Symposium 16: i-v

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Authors:
Bryden, W.L.
University of Queensland
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