Agricultural Science Post Graduation Celebration and Awards Ceremony

16 Dec 2025

UCC's annual ‘Agricultural Science Post Graduation Celebration and Awards Ceremony’ took place on 12 December in the glorious surroundings of the UCC’s North Wing Council room.

The event celebrated and paid tribute to the class of 2025, and recognised the outstanding academic achievement of a number of individual members of the class.

Congratulations to each of this year’s awards recipients and thank you to our award partners, including overall event supporter FBD Trust, without whom it would not be possible to host such a prestigious and enjoyable event.  

In total 14 awards with a combined value of €7,750 were presented on the evening. Each award comprised a beautiful hand-crafted solid silver medal plus monetary prize. The individual awards reflect the breadth of opportunity within the industry and the varied strengths and interests of our students, as well as enabling Agricultural Science at UCC to showcase its connections with individual industry stakeholders.

The eagerness of industry stakeholders to sponsor these prestigious awards reflects the quality and ambition our Agricultural Science graduates, and the bright future as industry leaders that lies ahead for them.

Event Supporters: 
FBD Trust, Cork Grassland Services, Munster Agricultural Society, Southern Milling, Irish Cattle Breeding Federation, MSD Animal Health Ireland, FDC, Irish Farmers Journal, Allied Irish Banks, Fertiliser Association of Ireland, Teagasc.

Individual Awards and Recipients:

• ‘Cork Grassland Services Grassland Student of the Year’ award to best student across 3rd and 4th year ‘grassland science’ modules AG3004 and AG4004. Silver medal plus €250. Recipient Neil O’Leary.
• ‘Munster Agricultural Society Sustainable Agriculture Award’ to best student in 2nd year module AG2001 – Sustainable Feed Production. Silver medal plus €250. Recipient Katelyn Walsh.
• ‘FBD Trust Soil Science Award’ to best student in 3rd year module AG3002 – Soil Science and Soil/Land Management. Silver medal plus €250. Recipient Sarah Cussen.
• ‘Southern Milling Award’ to best student in 4th year module AG4007 - Animal Nutrition II. Silver medal plus €250. Recipient Sarah Cussen.
• MSD ‘Bovilis #ProtectTheFuture Award’ to best student in 4th year module AG4009 - Bovine Health, Behaviour and Welfare. Recipient Katelyn Walsh.
• ‘AIB Best Work Placement Award’x2. Silver medal plus €250. Recipients Sarah Cussen and Katelyn Walsh.
• ‘ICBF Brian Wickham Award’. Silver medal plus €250. Recipient Sarah Cussen.
• ‘Irish Farmers Journal Award’. Silver medal plus €250. Recipient Elma O’Hanlon.
• ‘FDC Jack Murphy Award’. Silver medal plus €250. Recipient Sarah Cussen.
• ‘Teagasc Paddy O’Keeffe Award’. Silver medal plus €250. Recipients Sarah Cussen and Sean Crowley.
• ‘2025 Agricultural Science Post-Graduate Award’ sponsored by Fertiliser Association of Ireland. Silver medal plus €250. Recipient Samson Mwangi Ithagu.
• 'FBD Trust Best Overall Student Award'. Gold medal plus €1000. Recipient Sarah Cussen.