A former SRUC lecturer and student has added to his growing collection of accolades with the Fordyce Maxwell Award for Agricultural Communications.

Wallace Currie, who studied at SRUC before spending four years as an Agriculture lecturer at Barony, picked up the honour for his “dedication to improving agricultural education globally, promoting understanding of global food systems, and fostering communication within the agricultural sector”.

The 28-year-old from Arran was presented with the trophy by Jim Fairlie, Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, at the Royal Highland Show.

Wallace, the Knowledge Exchange Manager at UK Agri-Tech Centre, said: “I just really enjoy speaking to people and helping to share their amazing stories. Winning this award is a fantastic honour and I genuinely wasn’t expecting it. It just means the world to me.”

Last year, Wallace was named a Nuffield Farming Scholar, the prestigious scholarship focused on bringing positive change to agriculture. His scholarship project, ‘Slamming Doors Open: Pathways into Agriculture Through Education, Youth Groups and Consumer Engagement,’ involved travelling to universities in Japan, Singapore, the Netherlands and Switzerland to study their approaches to agricultural education.

He also hosts R2Kast, one of the biggest food and farming podcasts in the UK, where he interviews various individuals in the food and farming sector.

Named in honour of the late agricultural journalist and father of Tom Maxwell, Chief Communications Officer at SRUC, the Fordyce Maxwell Award is open to any current or former SRUC student who has made a significant contribution in telling the story of agriculture.

Craig Davidson, Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for Agriculture, said: “Wallace is passionate about agriculture and a brilliant communicator, so he’s a very worthy winner of this year’s Fordyce Maxwell Award. Being able to successfully communicate is an essential part of today’s rural industries – that’s why we have a brand-new designated course which focuses on bridging the knowledge gap between the general public and those working in the natural economy.”

To find out more about agricultural communications courses at SRUC, visit the SRUC website.