Press coverage included international (eg. India Education Diary); national (Farmers' Weekly, Farming UK, The Daily Brit); and local (Farming Life, BuyNI.com). It will also be the focus of an in-depth feature article in an upcoming edition of New Food magazine.

Also making headlines this month was the news of Prof Sharon Huws' prestigious Hammond Award from the British Society of Animal Science (BSAS) and Honorary Professor Elizabeth Magowan's incoming Presidency of BSAS.

This double success was also a boost for the Queen's-AFBI Alliance, which seeks to pool resources and research capability in the area of sustainable agriculture & animal health between Queen's (IGFS, School of Biological Sciences) and the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) NI.

Our story was covered in the News Letter, Farming Life, Farm Week as well as making a splash on social media.

Not only did the Queen's showcase win 'Best Trade Stand' of the whole event (see image), but Head of Innovation at IGFS, Stephane Durand was interviewed about the role of technology in agricultural research on the Frank Mitchell Show on U105, broadcast live from Balmoral Park. 

Later in the month, the Save Our Wild Isles conference, hosted by IGFS in partnership with RSPB NI and The National Trust picked up some solid local media coverage, including a live interview on Good Morning Ulster with Prof Nigel Scollan and John Martin of RSPB on the morning of the conference. The event was also covered in local farming media such as Farm Week and Farming Life.

Also in May, news that a number of PhD positions at IGFS and Ulster University are to be resourced by the farmer-funded organisation AgriSearch made local headlines including in Farm Week and Farming Life.

Coverage included Vet Record (UK); Vet Times (UK); Farming Life; News Letter; Farm Week; Newtownards Chronicle and the Twitter post on the story was 'Tweet of the Month' with over 2,000 impressions.

Coverage included BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio Foyle, Farm Week, Farming Life, Agriland.co.uk, Agriland.ie, British Farmers' Forum on Facebook and meatmanagement.co.uk

December was a busy month for news from IGFS. Other stories that did well were:

How 'green' is your Chrismtas Tree?

This article by Dr Paul Caplat from the Ecology cluster of IGFS. originally published on The Conversation website, was picked up by national outlets including BBC Online, RTE 1's primetime Drivetime programme and www.ecotricity.co.uk and performed strongly on social media, picking up the highest engagement rate for the month on the SBS Twitter account.

Leading agrifood businesswoman appointed honorary professor

News that Ursula Lavery from Moy Park has been appointed Professor of Practice at IGFS and SBS made local headlines including Farming Life, Farm Week, the News Letter, Meat Management and www.BuyNIFood.com

It also generated very strong engagement on LinkedIn with the announcement attracting just under 4,000 impressions and around 100 engagements.

New partnership between STEMM and the arts takes root

The announcement of a collaboration between IGFS, SBS and local arts organisation, Quotidian, created a buzz on social media, taking the 'Top Media Tweet of the month' title on the IGFS Twitter account as well as 'Top Tweet of the month' on SBS Twitter.

Regional, national and international media coverage included the Irish Farmers' Journal, AlphaGalileo, Farm Week, Farming Life, Veterinary News (UK), British Farming Forum on Facebook, BBC Radio Ulster and Medical News Australia. Full report (25+ items) available from u.bradley@qub.ac.uk

Websites picking up the news included www.fibl.org, www.iamz.ciheam.org, www.cepsa.com, www.cordis.europa.eu, www.wur.nl, www.anas.it, www.circularfoodsystems.org, www.pic.com

Local coverage included Farm Week, Derry Journal, Farming Life and News Letter while international coverage included India Education Diary and siliconrepublic.com.

Full report of media coverage available from u.bradley@qub.ac.uk

Full list of media coverage on this item available from u.bradley@qub.ac.uk

The launch of the Centre of Excellence for Agriculture & Food Integrity - a partnership between IGFS and the UK's National Measurement Laboratory - attracted solid national and international coverage, including Gov.uk; Thai News Service; Mirage News Australia; ForeignAffairs.co.nz; and Feed Navigator.

Honorary Professor John Gilliland's Inaugural Lecture also garnered widespread coverage in the NI mainstream and agricultural media, including Farm Week, BBC Radio Ulster, Agriland, Farming Life, the Belfast Telegraph and the Irish Farmers' Journal.

News of Dr Elizabeth Magowan's honorary professorships at IGFS was picked up by a range of local, national and international outlets including The Farmer (UK); The Herald Ghana; British Farming Forum on Facebook; Veterinary Times (UK) and Farm Week.

News that IGFS and the School of Biological Sciences (in which IGFS is anchored) scored No 1 in the UK in the independent REF assessment of research quality at UK universities was covered by Food Matters Live; the Irish Farmers' Journal; BBC Online; the NI Chamber of Commerce; and Veterinary Today.

Full lists of all the above stories can be obtained from u.bradley@qub.ac.uk

Coverage included Farmers' Weekly, FeedNavigator, ENP Newswire, Pig World, Agriland and The Farmer. Full report available from u.bradley@qub.ac.uk

It gained widespread coverage including The Times, the Irish Times, the Irish Independent, The Grocer, Farming UK and Agriland.co.uk

Also this month, news of an all-Ireland food integrity hub, FOOD-I - in which IGFS will play a leading role - picked up widespread national coverage including Alpha Galileo; the Belfast Telegraph; the Irish Times; Farm Week; and Dairy Industry International.

Titles covering the soil research included Agriland.co.uk; the Ghana Herald; Business News Wales; Food and Drink Business Europe; and India Education Diary.

An IGFS response to an Independent Strategic Review of the Northern Ireland Agri-food Sector by Sir Peter Kendall also picked up solid coverage including the British Farming Forum on Facebook; Agriland.co.uk; and Food and Beverage News.

A follow-up Queen's University news release generated over 30 items of regional and national coverage including Mail Online; the Irish Daily Mail; the Irish Sun; the Irish Independent; Newstalk FM; the Irish News; U105 and Highland Radio.

Full media coverage report available from u.bradley@qub.ac.uk

Full list of media coverage on the seaweed story available on request from u.bradley@qub.ac.uk

News of the honorary professorship awarded to Dr John Gilliland of Devenish Nutrition also picked up local, national and international coverage, paritcularly across the agriculture and agrifood media, including Farm Week, Farming Life, Irish Farmers' Journal as well as the Derry Journal and The (Ghana) Herald. 

Full report of media coverage available on request from u.bradley@qub.ac.uk

Coverage to date includes The Independent; The Times; TheWashingtonTime.com; the International Business Times (India edition); Sky News; Yahoo! New Zealand; SydneyNewsToday.com; The Independent; BBC Radio 4; The Irish Times; The Daily Mail; and Yahoo! Canada (full list available from IGFS Comms Officer Una Bradley u.bradley@qub.ac.uk)