The conferring of doctorates to Lucie Cases (in absentia) and Tapiwa Zengeza marks a first in the history of the University’s Summerhill Road campus.
Lucie Cases and Tapiwa Zengeza joined up to 4,000 other SETU students in graduation celebrations across the region in the past number of weeks, after they both successfully completed Doctor of Philosophy awards in the area of agriculture.
Lucie, from France, completed her PhD entitled ‘Developing Protein Rich Crops for Ireland’, under the supervision of Dr John Carroll of SETU and the co-supervision of Dr Sheila Alves of Teagasc, having received Department of Agriculture funding. Her studies have contributed to a significant amount of novel information for Irish farmers.
Tawipa came to Ireland from Zimbabwe in 2022 and, under the supervision of Dr John Carroll and co-supervisors Dr Atikur Rahman of Teagasc and Dr Tony Woodcock of SETU, carried out research through SERD (South East Regional Development) funding, which resulted in the publication of a PhD entitled, ‘Identifying and Quantifying Limitations to Oat Yield under Irish Conditions’. His research has contributed to peer reviewed articles, and he is now in full-time employment with Teagasc.
“It’s a real privilege to see our dedicated students receive their Doctor of Philosophy awards and to know that their research has proven so important. It’s also a major milestone for the Summerhill Road campus in Wexford to confer two PhD students and an additional reason to celebrate all our fantastic students at SETU who graduated recently. No doubt they have very bright futures ahead.”
“Lucie and Tapiwa have excelled in their areas of research and have provided extremely beneficial insights to agricultural policy, science and farming in Ireland. I was delighted to lead their supervision and follow the progress of their PhDs, which they worked on so diligently throughout their time at SETU. Both graduates have remarkable careers ahead in their fields of interest.