ELIZABETH Brennan, 30, Wongan Hills, is the epitomy of a young gun and has grand plans for the agricultural industry.
She has won an abundance of awards, volunteers, works with a range of women's and agricultural groups and also works in the family business, managing the marketing for one of the largest citrus operations in WA, Moora Citrus.
A woman on a mission, Elizabeth wants to help create a future where agriculture brings people together - to eat, sustain regional communities, solve environmental challenges, provide economic opportunity, be connected to country and feed the world.
The Brennan family has been farming in the WA Wheatbelt for 91 years, and whilst she wanted to be involved in the family farm from a young age, Elizabeth didn't see herself getting involved in cropping or the piggery.
Instead she pursued a less traditional pathway and can now inject new thinking and experience into the family's diversified business.
Elizabeth's journey into agriculture started at a Christmas Eve celebration with a friend when she started thinking it would be a great idea to walk the Kokoda track.
"After 96 kilometres of trekking through the Papua New Guinea jungle, I was hooked," she said.
"After returning to Australia I researched how I could get work in PNG and discovered Australian Volunteers International who facilitate the placement of volunteers with partner organisations in developing countries.
"I relocated to Papua New Guinea for two years and volunteered with the national tourism promotion authority."
After a month of living in Port Moresby, one of the most dangerous cities in the world, Elizabeth was posted to Kokopo in the New Guinea islands.
She said it was like coming home.
"I lived in small village on the outskirts of town and was the only expatriate person in the community," she said.
"My neighbours, who would become my family, were fascinated by this strange, young, white lady who wore this weird white stuff in the sun (sunscreen) and was so excited by the near two metres of annual rainfall."
Elizabeth said language was initially a barrier, but given the fact that she was the only person in the village with an oven, she spent a lot of time with the local ladies scraping fresh coconuts to make ANZAC biscuits.
"During these serene afternoons, perched a stone's throw from the beach, the women and I would talk about our families and we soon discovered that we had more in common despite our vastly different paths in life," she said.
"They couldn't believe that we grew crops with one tenth of the rain they received and they would often remark that our farm must be like a desert.
"Many of these women were farmers themselves and shared stories about their subsistence farming models, differing greatly to our mixed farming enterprises back home, that led me to commence my masters (degree) in sustainable systems, majoring in food security."
Elizabeth said the experience triggered a growing interest in food security and the eternal conundrum of how to feed the world, which led her back into agriculture.
"After my idyllic childhood on our family farm and thinking that I would never live more than 200km from home, relocating to Papua New Guinea helped me define how my diverse skillset and passion for feeding the world in a sustainable way could create my dream job,'' Elizabeth said.
"Or rather, jobs.
"I work part-time in our family business managing the marketing for Moora Citrus and part-time co-ordinating an agricultural research program back in Papua New Guinea."
Elizabeth spreads her time at the family's three properties in the WA Wheatbelt - they are involved in mixed cropping, hay production, pigs and citrus - and travels to Papua New Guinea for her work with the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).
"What I didn't realise is that my early life on the land had imprinted a fundamental connection to country that has woven itself through my career," Elizabeth said.
"I love that my diverse skillset can contribute to our family business and our local community as well as my island home-away-from-home in Papua New Guinea.
"Being able to do what I love, whilst living on the farm in Wongan Hills is almost surreal."
Elizabeth said she enjoys volunteering and working overseas because "you're never the expert".
"People from developed countries such as Australia often assume a false status because of our relatively privileged up-bringing," she said.
"But when we travel to countries like Papua New Guinea, there are a multitude of cultural, social and environmental factors that we as foreigners could only ever dream of understanding and that force us to leave behind our preconceived ideas about development.
"The research that ACIAR commissions emphasises this delicate dynamic by drawing the strengths from both Australian and Papua New Guinean organisations and research institutes to solve some of the most enduring and complex challenges in food security."
Elizabeth said the ACIAR program she co-ordinates contained five research projects across commodities and focus areas, including cocoa, sweet potato, native nuts, and family farming models, that are all designed to improve livelihoods for rural people in Papua New Guinea.
"My role is to draw together the otherwise disparate projects to translate the research outcomes into high level development goals," she said.
"So, what I get up to in Papua New Guinea can range from running monitoring and evaluation workshops to visiting agricultural research sites to facilitating collaboration between projects and partner organisations."
Since volunteering in Papua New Guinea for two years with AusAID she has received the Women in Australian Agribusiness 100 Outstanding Emerging Leaders Award, the 2016 WA Young Achievers of the Year Award, won a scholarship from Fairfax Agricultural Media to undertake an 18-month Australian Rural Leadership Program and was appointed to the board of Australian Women in Agriculture.
This was Elizabeth's first ever board role and she said it was a steep learning curve.
She said the lessons she learnt after volunteering in Papua New Guinea about integrity, catalysing sustainable change and a people-centric approach saw her elected at the organisation's youngest-ever president in her first year on the board.
Elizabeth is a proud advocate for regional Australia and a role model for young women in agriculture and is a self-confessed chronic volunteer.
She contributes to her local community by delivering Meals on Wheels and is a member of the Wongan Hills ANZAC commemorative committee and Liebe Group women's committee.
She represented Oceania on the World's Farmers' Organisation women's committee and provided input to various advisory committees, including the Murdoch Commission that addresses food security in the Asian region.
As a young person in agriculture she said it was important for the younger generation to "follow their bliss."
"Do what gives you that sparkle in your eyes when you talk about the thing you love," she said.
"I see first-hand (what happens) when the next generation of farming families feels obligated to return to the farm.
"I would encourage everyone, not just those from a farm, to go out and explore.
"I've worked in random jobs as a wedding planner, butcher and grain sampler as well as work experience at Perth Zoo, in disability services and as a radio DJ - we don't all have the opportunity to travel abroad, but the opportunities to discover what really makes your heart sing are everywhere.
"Listening to my inner compass has helped define my career in agriculture."
Elizabeth said she was inspired by those people in agriculture that challenge the norm and defy stereotypes.
"(It's) the farmers that approach critical issues such as climate change with innovative thinking and holistic solutions," she said
"And the young agricultural professionals that are learning from their predecessors and disrupting that sometimes archaic way we've always done things, and the women that are redefining the paradigm of the historically male-characterised agriculture industry."