Bay of Plenty Polytechnic summer scholarship students Te Atarangi Sayers and Nicholas Elliott are the first and third place-getters respectively in a ‘th3sis in 3' competition.

The competition was part of the Coastal Economic Symposium ‘Treasuring the Bay, Whakamana te taonga o te Moana a Toi' held last week and involved the graduates giving a three minute presentation with one Powerpoint slide.

Te Atarangi Sayers, Alice Morrison and Nicholas Elliott at the symposium.

Diploma in Marine Studies graduate and current Bachelor of Applied Science student Te Atarangi Sayers gained first place for his presentation on his aquaculture project: Hatchery techniques for breeding and rearing of sea cucumber Australostichopus (Huton).

Classmate, and fellow graduate, Nicholas Elliott gained third place for his presentation on his aquaculture project: Aquaculture of Kingfish at Bay of Plenty Polytechnic.

Held at Bay of Plenty Polytechnic's Bongard Centre, the symposium was the brainchild of the University of Waikato and was supported by Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi, Priority One and the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

Speakers at the symposium included Professor Chris Battershill (coastal research) Dr Simon Muncaster (aquaculture), Dr Michael Kearney (eel farming), Professor Murray Munro (marine pharmaceuticals), Hemi Rolleston, Maru Samuels and Antoine Coffine (iwi economic development) and guest speaker Professor Rocky de Nys from James Cook University in Australia (biofuels/biochar).