Jennifer Nichols
Maroochydore, QLD
From the pioneering Nichols family who travelled up the Maroochy river to settle at Bli Bli in the late 1800's, Jennifer is a born and bred local who knows and loves her region like few others, and has spent decades exploring it at work and at play.
Her extensive career started in radio and progressed to television working for Channel 7 on the Sunshine Coast, in Perth and in Brisbane before the call of the coast drew her home. Jen loves introducing ABC audiences to the innovative folk working the land and sea to provide us with food. The rural gig is pretty much her dream job and provides plenty of opportunities for her to indulge in her love of photography. If you're a very early riser, you may run into her at a local dog beach with her husband and three rescue pooches on the weekend. She won't be wearing make-up and her hair won't be done.
Latest by Jennifer Nichols
Rare dolphin, only photographed six times, believed spotted in Australian waters
Researchers believe they have recorded one of the world's most unusually coloured dolphins for the first time in Australian waters.
Young couple call time on gourmet mushroom business amid tough economy, failing infrastructure
The business a young couple crowdfunded to grow a head-turning array of tasty, colourful fungi closes as failing machinery and crop losses due to constant rain prove too much to overcome.
From dripping on bread to biofuels and skincare, demand for tallow is surging
It started as a war-time snack that reduced waste during food scarcity, but now tallow is making Australia one of the most significant players in biofuel exports.
Camping, wedding receptions, RV parking — bowls clubs bend tradition to stay alive
Many Australian bowls clubs are battling to stay open, but one establishment has bucked the trend by offering camping in the hope of developing a national trail for tourists.
Pioneering family farmer and Maroochydore's largest landowner passes away on Sunshine Coast
Eighth-generation farmer Peter Wise, whose family had been working land on the Sunshine Coast since 1901, has passed away after a short stay in hospital at the age of 82.
These baby turtles are tracked at faster speeds than they can swim, and researchers think they know why
Researchers are trying to figure out what is causing the deaths of the Mary River turtles they have spent years trying to save.
Pressure mounts for ACCC inquiry into alleged supermarket price gouging amid claim farmers paid 1978 prices
Grocery prices rose and major supermarkets made billion-dollar profits last year, but Bundaberg farmer Trevor Cross fears rock-bottom produce prices will force him to leave the industry he loves — and there are many others like him.
Farmer startups backing themselves to bring chocolate capsicum and other 'new fruit' to markets
From pink custard apples and sweeter capsicums that resemble the colour of chocolate, these Queensland farmers are working to bring innovative new varieties to supermarket shelves.
Very 'intense storm' smashes Fraser Coast, Gympie and Sunshine Coast with huge hail
The Bureau of Meteorology says the size of hail reported by residents may potentially rival a 16-centimetre record from 2021, as damage to houses, cars and farming crops in south east Queensland is reported.
The 'soul-destroying' situation behind Australia's shrinking dairy industry
Do you know where your milk comes from? If you're in Queensland there's half a chance it's travelled through NSW and Victoria, possibly from a dairy up to 2,000 kilometres away.
'Very emotional' days as dairy farming family calls it quits after 117 years
Robbie Radel's voice breaks as he describes his dread of the week ahead — having to watch the last of his beloved milkers being trucked away from the farm his family has owned since 1906.
Grief-stricken family turns 'rotten, diabolical situation' into fitting legacy for beloved farmer
Lachlan Hughes was 36 and expecting his third child when he suddenly died in 2018. His loved ones were devastated, but they found a way to ensure his passion for regenerative farming would never be forgotten.
After 12 years leading a region through unprecedented growth, Sunshine Coast's mayor won't seek re-election
The man who has overseen large population growth in the Sunshine Coast says he is stepping away to put his family and personal interests first.
Graziers 'can't just sit and hope for rain'. Industry leaders say it's time to destock
Queensland graziers are being urged to sell their cattle as the state's bushfire emergency exacerbates an already dire national feed shortage.
Randal and Juanita had no farming experience. Now they're feeding 80 families a week
The first-generation farmers made an ambitious 100-year plan to repair land stripped of vegetation with tree plantings and chemical-free regenerative practices.
Mary River repairs expanded to save valuable farmland and protect Great Barrier Reef
Restoration work on a severely eroded Queensland river is stopping tens of thousands of tonnes of sediment from smothering the Great Barrier Reef.
Macadamias 'as rare as the Wollemi pine' get new national recovery plan
A plan of action is adopted to help save the world's only wild macadamia plants from extinction.
'Everybody has to change the paddock between their ears': Aussie actor finds homegrown hope
After watching her farm narrowly survive the inferno of Black Summer and welcoming a grandson into the world, Rachel Ward knew it was time to try to do things differently.
Cowgirl meet lifts spirits as women focus on themselves
Rural women have been building a sense of camaraderie and prioritising their own health and wellbeing as they enjoy their country lifestyle at the Cowgirls Gathering.
Campers cop $600 fines after ignoring fishing bans at endangered cod breeding site
Fisheries officers say they have ramped up enforcement against fishing in Mary River cod breeding grounds as the species slowly recovers from the brink of extinction.
Leaving city crowds behind, this couple has found contentment by flower farming in country Queensland
After swapping their demanding jobs and cosmopolitan life in inner Melbourne for a bush block in Queensland, Jennifer Nini and Ben McGuire haven't looked back.
How this free gardening movement is helping sow the seeds for future food security
If disasters ever cause shortages on supermarket shelves, Psaltis Cauley and passionate volunteers like her are set to support local food security with a precious seed bank of hardy and heirloom variety vegetables.
Iced doggie doughnuts and pony treats catapult Emma into a multi-billion-dollar market
With her all-woman workforce and biscuits that look good enough for humans to eat, Emma Gibbons is breaking into a multi-billion-dollar global market of animal lovers splurging on spoiling their pets.
Queensland beehives allowed across the border from NSW amid varroa mite concerns
Queensland beekeepers are cleared to bring their hives back home but face 12 months of increased surveillance to ensure their bees are varroa mite free.
Since cutting ties with its processor this dairy farm now makes four times as much
With neighbouring farms folding on Queensland's Scenic Rim, Kay and Dave Tommerup had to choose between closing or saving their fifth-generation dairy by radically changing how they did business.