AS a young girl growing up in the north Sydney suburb of Westleigh, Lefroy research fellow Kelsey Pool was adamant she was going to be a marine biologist.
She loved the outdoors, the beach and had a genuine fascination with what lay beneath the oceans' depths.
Her schooling followed that science-based trajectory including at Sydney University where she studied Animal Veterinary Bioscience.
But in the third year of her four year course, things changed and the ocean's loss became agriculture and more specifically the sheep industry's gain.
"We had to do some field work and by this time I had become quite interested in wildlife conservation so spent some time in wildlife sanctuaries, but also ended up on a cattle farm in Queensland for two months," Dr Pool said.
"I had no agricultural experience at all and I found myself helping with regular farming jobs and it proved a real turning point for me.
"Through the people I met I realised that farmers were also interested in the environment and I saw how important sustainability was to them."
It's something that has underpinned her work journey.
Back at university, Dr Pool undertook the animal reproduction unit and was fascinated by it thanks to an "inspiring lecturer'', associate professor of Animal Reproduction, Simon de Graaf.
"We were looking at IVF (in vitro fertilisation) in mice, semen cryopreservation and artificial insemination in sheep and I thought it was such cool science," Dr Pool said.
"It was research with a purpose, impact work where there were genuine outcomes for industry gains and that made it so rewarding."
Dr Pool completed her honours in feedlot cattle welfare in a project between the University of Sydney and CSIRO, Armidale and then moved back to Sydney University and back to sheep to again work with Simon de Graaf for her PhD.
Sheep reproduction based, her thesis sought to examine ways to improve ram reproductive efficiency, specifically looking at the effect of melatonin in boosting libido, fertility and semen quality.
Melatonin is a naturally occurring neurohormone and powerful anti-oxidant which controls reproductive seasonality in sheep.
Using slow release melatonin implants, (Regulin), inserted subcutaneously behind the ear in sheep, their reproductive seasonality and reproductive performance can be enhanced.
Melatonin has been shown to aid vascular growth and placental development in rodent models and this is currently being trialled in sheep as part of Dr Pool's research seeking strategies to improve offspring survival from conception onwards.
In addition her PhD research showed that boosting melatonin levels in rams using Regulin, also had a positive effect resulting in improved motility and DNA integrity of semen, increased testicular function and advancement of the ram breeding season.
Last year, as her PhD was nearing completion and the effects of COVID-19 were threatening to impact job opportunities another twist of fortune brought Dr Pool to WA to continue her trial work.
"Simon (de Graaf) showed me the Lefroy Fellowship advertisement and suggested I apply," she said.
"It was two days before it closed and I thought I would have no chance as I had not yet finished my PhD, but I applied anyway."
It proved a fortuitous decision with Dr Pool now resident in WA and continuing her research trial work on melatonin and also the effects of oestrogenic clovers on ram fertility through The University of Western Australia (UWA) at its Ridgefield Farm and Tim and Lachlan Watts' neighbouring Mederberrin farm, Pingelly.
"This fellowship has provided a fantastic opportunity for me to work with other scientists who I respect and admire and with WA producers who are such broad and open thinkers," Dr Pool said.
"Having such a well-run property and a true commercial operation like Tim and Lachy's enables us to make great progress.
"They (the Watts) are involved in the whole process including helping design the trials, which ensures commercial relevance."
The father and son duo have been hosting research trials at their 1500 hectare Mederberrin property for 15 years and while their time and costs are reimbursed (labour, materials, animals used in research, seed for grazing crops etc), it still involves some added management effort.
But with Tim a qualified vet and Lachy a former woolbroker, they see the big picture value and say it's a privilege to be involved at the forefront of advancements in the sheep industry.
With a 70:30 sheep versus cropping split, comprising 3000 Merino ewes run as a closed flock for the past 20 years, sheep are clearly the centrepiece of their enterprise and the two research projects are ones they are following with considerable interest.
"Marking percentages on Mederberrin have improved as the result of pasture renovation with newer non oestrogenic pasture legumes and dilution effects of ryegrass and cropping, but at 90% marked lambs there's room for improvement and these trials Kelsey is conducting may provide further clues," Lachy Watts said.
When Dr Pool moved to WA in July 2020 she joined a UWA team which was already researching the effects of oestrogenic clovers on ewe fertility.
It's not lost on her that this was an area of particular interest to Lefroy Research Fellowship founder Sir Edward Lefroy who was challenged mid-century with the problem at his Cranmore property, Walebing.
But it surprised her that the effects on ram fertility were not simultaneously being compared, something the Lefroy Fellowship has enabled her to do.
"We've had this issue of oestrogenic pastures for 70 or 80 years but ram reproductive function has not really been explored," Dr Pool said.
Research in ewes was something that was high on the agenda in WA until into the 1980s when it was thought new clover varieties and different management techniques had to a large degree overcome the problem.
But with the incredibly hard seed of the traditional clover varieties seemingly outdoing competition and beginning to re-establish back into pasture bases it is back on the agenda.
And Dr Pool couldn't have picked a better year to be doing clover-based trials with one of the best clover germinations in years in the WA agricultural belt.
The trial includes two mobs of lambing ewes, scanned to be carrying multiple lambs, which are being run at Mederberrin and rams being run at Ridgefield, with half on high oestrogenic clover pastures and the others on low to nil clover content paddocks.
Weekly testing is monitoring changes in ram reproductive function and possible effects from the clover pastures, which may be transient or permanent, and could have implications for semen collection and sperm viability potentially leading to sub-fertility.
The next step is monitoring lambs being born to the trial ewes to determine the effects on reproductive capacity in future generations and whether there is a difference in phytoestrogen exposure in utero at the foetal stage versus the lactation stage.
To expediate results, Dr Pool uses drosophila (fruit flies) extensively in her research because they reach maturity in about one month allowing rapid generational analysis and it appears where both parents in this species have been exposed to phytoestrogens the fertility of the next one or two generations may also be affected.
As part of her fellowship, the next major trial Dr Pool will be working on with other researchers across several farms in WA, thanks to a recent grant, is examining the effect of climate on sheep reproduction.
