2026 | Horticulture
“My passionate desire, dream if you like, is to be of help towards our land, especially the natural ecosystems and people amongst them struggling to adapt and cope.”
I have always held a deep love for our land here in Australia, especially its flora, fauna and people. Through my work at the City of Stirling nursery, our small team grew more than 30,000 plants and trees in one year for parks, streets and natural areas. This fills me with purpose and drives me to expand my goals for the greater good.
The greening of parks, reserves and streets provides sustainable habitats and ecosystems in which flora and fauna can flourish. My native garden at home also represents to me the profound and extraordinary impact small actions can lead to in the long run.
I jumped at the Global Footprints Scholarship as an opportunity to work towards my dream of helping our land and people adapt and cope.
I hope to gain deeper horticultural knowledge and learn how local values and ways of life can help respond to climate change. I hope to travel to Uzbekistan, particularly the Aral Sea region. Its soil salinity, water loss and environmental degradation reflect challenges Australia faces. I would love to learn about revegetation, drip irrigation and land rehabilitation, then share that knowledge with my team and throughout my future career.
“Oscar has a strong personal narrative connecting travel with a passion for horticulture and wanting to bring this experience back to Australia.”
- Assessor Panel