PhD student Eliza Syropoulou from Greece wins prestigious Norwegian Aquaculture Scholarship

Eliza Syropoulou from Greece has been awarded the Norwegian Kvarøy Arctic 2022 Women in Aquaculture Scholarship announced Kvaroy Arctic.

Syropoulou is a PhD student at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, focusing her studies on fish welfare and nutrition specifically as it relates to Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (R.A.S.) and microbiology, ultimately optimizing water treatment methods in these systems. She also wants to find ways to benefit the community of women in aquaculture.

She was one of two recipients to win the $10,000 scholarship, the other one being Abigail Ebachi Tarchie from Ghana.

This year, Kvaroy Arctic received double the number of applications from 85 different countries.

“We’re beyond thrilled by the recognition our scholarship is receiving as achieving gender equality and empowerment for women in aquaculture is something we at Kvarøy Arctic are deeply passionate about,” says Jennifer Bushman, Chief Marketing Officer. With this in mind, the family-owned company developed the first-of-its-kind, international scholarship in 2020; a fully immersive learn/work experience focused on eliminating boundaries and helping women build their careers in aquaculture⁠.

Kvaroy Arctic worked with judges Imani Black from Minorities in Aquaculture and Julie Kuchepatov from Seafood and Gender Equality as they, too, believe in educating and encouraging women and minorities to pursue a career in all aspects of aquaculture. The scholarship aims to not only support women but lead in an industry that lacks gender inclusion by eliminating boundaries and opening the door to women for a career in aquaculture.