PODCAST

scigest - Plant & Food Research podcast

The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

Welcome to Scigest - podcast-sized servings of digestible science from Plant & Food Research. Join us as we explore the advancements and impact our scientists are making in food production, including developing new cultivars, innovative new foods, to bioprotection science, AI and technology, and creating sustainable production systems. Listen to our scientists as they share and discuss current research in Aotearoa New Zealand, and beyond in this award-winning podcast collection. Make sure to visit

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All Episodes

Fish bites: The Potential of Lab-Grown Food (FTS)

scigest - Plant & Food Research podcast ·

2024/11/25

Cellular agriculture is an evolving technology where animal meat is grown in a lab using just their cells. This process is potentially an important way of producing animal protein in a sustainable and ethical manner. Plant & Food Research are exploring this technology to grow fish meat and is an important part of our overall fish research at our Nelson site where this recording is from. This week Scigest host and scientist Julie Blommaert speaks to Georgina Dowd about her research on cellular

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Rebecca Campbell: Mapping out a career in...

scigest - Plant & Food Research podcast ·

2024/11/06

Geoinformatics is the analysis of spatial data using technology to understand and solve real-world problems.Scientist and Scigest podcast host Dion Mundy speaks to fellow Scientist Rebecca Campbell about her journey into geoinformatics and her expertise in analysing spatial aspects of data. Rebecca also talks about her experience as a recipient of the prestigious MBIE Science Whitinga Fellowship and the benefits that this Fellowship has provided her in her career so far. To view our full catalogue

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Plant elicitors - a vaccine for plants? (BDIS)

scigest - Plant & Food Research podcast ·

2024/10/24

Plant elicitors have huge potential to help protect New Zealand crops from disease. Acting much like a vaccine, these elicitors allow plants to defend themselves better against disease. Coming from a biological source like seaweed, they offer a more ecologically friendly crop protection option, too.This week James Sainsbury from our Ruakura site speaks to Dr Joel Vanneste about his research on the recently Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment-funded, 5-year project on plant elicitors led

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Powering up the food system (PPF)

scigest - Plant & Food Research podcast ·

2024/10/10

People | Planet | Food - Roger Robson-Williams speaks with Mike Casey, about producing cherries without using fossil fuels and running a charity called Rewiring Aotearoa.They discuss what it takes to build a fully electrified orchard and the emerging opportunities for farmers and growers to help address growing demand for renewable power. Mike explains how Rewiring Aotearoa is helping kiwis save money on energy bills, reduce their carbon emissions, and have the resilience to keep their lights on

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Working with AI (NT)

scigest - Plant & Food Research podcast ·

2024/10/03

AI has captured everyone’s attention and clearly has the potential to be a very important tool for our scientists in the future, but there are still a lot of learnings about the benefits and risks of this technology. Podcaster James Sainsbury speaks to Data Scientist Sam Birch about two projects that utilise computer vision, a field making heavy use of the recent improvements in AI. They discuss how this technology has benefited his work and why, like all tools, it still needs to be used with care

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The Climate Action Campus (PPF)

scigest - Plant & Food Research podcast ·

2024/09/16

People | Planet | Food - Roger Robson-Williams speaks with Catherine Leeper, a Learning Advisor at Climate Action Campus Ōtautahi, about the importance of empowering rangatahi (young people) to take action on climate change. Catherine talks about her farming roots, her journey to Aotearoa New Zealand, and the initiatives of the Climate Action Campus, particularly in educating students about sustainability and promoting fairer, healthier, and environmentally restorative futures. They explore the

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Anna Kokeny: starting with a solitary bee (SLFM)

scigest - Plant & Food Research podcast ·

2024/09/09

Aotearoa New Zealand has many native solitary bees, but not much is known about them. In this Scigest episode, newly-minted podcaster and apiculture scientist James Sainsbury speaks to entomologist Anna Kokeny about her research on our little-known native bees. They also discuss Anna's career journey and share tips for budding scientists. Anna is a dedicated science communicator and has joined the scigest team as our podcaster based at our Hawkes Bay site.To view our full catalogue of podcasts

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Avoiding planetary boundary overshoot with Kate Meyer...

scigest - Plant & Food Research podcast ·

2024/09/02

People | Planet | Food - Roger Robson-Williams speaks with Kate Meyer, Founder and CEO of the Planetary Accounting Network (PAN). This small not-for-profit organisation from Wānaka is dedicated to translating cutting-edge earth systems science into actionable plans that help individuals, businesses, and governments operate within global environmental limits. Kate shares her journey from avid skier to the creator of Planetary Accounting, a scientifically robust method for understanding how to live

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Beginners guide to gene technologies (NT)

scigest - Plant & Food Research podcast ·

2024/08/18

Over the last 25 years, genetic techniques have rapidly evolved. In this episode of Scigest, scientists Blue Plunkett and Dr Revel Drummond provide a brief guide to the latest gene technologies. What is a null segregant? What is CRISPR-Cas9? How do these cutting-edge tools differ from earlier GMO technologies? Note: Since we recorded this Dame Juliet Gerrard who is mentioned in the podcast has left the role of Prime Minister's Chief Science Advisor.To view our full catalogue of podcasts including

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Rob Agnew: Changing weather into wine (SLFM)

scigest - Plant & Food Research podcast ·

2024/08/04

For nearly 40 years, retiring scientist Rob Agnew has dedicated his career to logging and analysing the changing weather patterns in the Marlborough region. In this episode of Scigest, our new podcaster, Dion Mundy, sits down with Rob Agnew to explore his impactful career from his work in protecting the wine industry through meteorological trend studies, forecasting, and examining the long-term effects of climate change. Rob also shares insights from his role as the author of VineFacts, a crucial

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An irresistible virgin redback spider lure (BDIS)

scigest - Plant & Food Research podcast ·

2024/07/18

Redback spiders have established populations in Central Otago and Taranaki, posing a threat to human health and taonga native species such as the critically endangered Cromwell chafer beetle.We talk to Chemist Dr Andrew Twidle, who is leading the development of a pheromone tool to eradicate these invasive redback spiders, the first attempt in the world to control pest spiders using pheromones. The project is supported by Lincoln University, local iwi, and the Department of Conservation. Find more

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The future urban consumer - part 2 (SITK)

scigest - Plant & Food Research podcast ·

2024/07/04

Join us for the latest insights from a comprehensive global study on consumer preferences, following up on our initial Future Urban Consumer podcast from October last year. Understanding consumer attitudes is crucial when developing new food technologies and farming systems. Plant & Food Research's Future Urban Consumer programme delves into how consumers in Aotearoa New Zealand, and international markets perceive emerging food technologies and the factors influencing these perceptions. In this

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PPF: Exploring agritech with Brendan O’Connell

scigest - Plant & Food Research podcast ·

2024/06/17

In this episode of People | Planet | Food, Roger Robson-Williams speaks with Brendan O’Connell, Chief Executive of AgritechNZ, to discuss the role of agritech in creating a healthier, fairer, and more environmentally friendly food system. Brendan shares his perspective on what agritech is, how it can help, and how AgritechNZ supports a diverse range of businesses operating in this area. Together, they delve into the potential of agritech, the challenges of its adoption, and the potential unintended

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SLFM: Dion Mundy: new tech for the vine doctor

scigest - Plant & Food Research podcast ·

2024/06/06

New technologies are essential in helping scientists and growers combat vine diseases in vineyards. This week, podcaster and data scientist Tom Moore interviews vine doctor Dion Mundy about his latest research on plant disease monitoring, disease identification, and modelling for future climate changes. Dion was one of our first interviews on Scigest five years ago, and we are delighted he has joined the Scigest podcast team and will be recording some of the exciting science stories emerging from

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FTS: Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest flume tank

scigest - Plant & Food Research podcast ·

2024/05/23

Plant & Food Research's Nelson site is home to Aotearoa New Zealand's largest flume tank, an innovative facility that allows scientists to test and develop new technologies in both simulated open ocean and controlled laboratory environments.In this week's podcast, Julie Blommaert sits down with fellow scientists Suzy Black and Louise Kregting to discuss the exciting research applications of the new flume tank. Their conversation covers a range of topics, including advancements in aquatic design,

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PPF: Future-Fit: Navigating Sustainability with...

scigest - Plant & Food Research podcast ·

2024/05/13

In this episode of the People | Planet | Food podcast series, host Roger Robson-Williams talks to Martin Rich, a former investment banker turned Chief Executive of the UK’s Future-Fit Foundation. Martin shares his journey from international finance to earth systems science and doughnut economics and explains why he now leads a sustainability charity. Roger and Martin discuss what it means for organisations to become future-fit and why this is important for the food system. They also explore what

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PPF: Food. Who's helping?

scigest - Plant & Food Research podcast ·

2024/04/29

What would it take to make the global food system healthier, fairer, and more environmentally restorative? Hi, I am Roger Robson-Williams, Chief Sustainability Officer at Plant & Food Research. I am delighted to start my People | Planet | Food series in conversation with two remarkable leaders from opposite sides of the planet working on exactly this issue. In this episode I am speaking to Sue Pritchard, the Chief Executive of the UK’s Food, Farming and Countryside Commission, and Angela Clifford,

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SLFM: Roger Robson-Williams: A man on a mission

scigest - Plant & Food Research podcast ·

2024/04/11

Roger Robson-Williams, Chief Sustainability Officer at Plant & Food Research, joins Scigest podcast host Rebecca Bloomer to discuss his scientific journey and interest in the future prosperity of food production in Aotearoa. In their conversation, Roger introduces his upcoming podcast, People, Planet, Food, which will feature discussions with individuals from various fields striving to create a more environmentally sustainable, economically inclusive, and socially just food system. Stay tuned for

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SLFM: Dr James Sainsbury - Buzzworthy science

scigest - Plant & Food Research podcast ·

2024/04/01

Working with bees, and in local body politics means you are always at risk of being stung at some stage, but that hasn’t stopped our latest guest, apiculture scientist Dr James Sainsbury taking up the challenge. In this podcast Andrew Dare speaks to James, who specialises in honey bee health and pollination, about his interesting and diverse career so far - from working with Kaka parrots in Wellington, bumble bees in London Zoo, supporting science involving at-risk communities in Africa, along with

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SITK: The New Zealand Food Composition Database

scigest - Plant & Food Research podcast ·

2024/03/14

Knowing what’s in the food you consume is important – to help with that, scientists at Plant & Food Research are responsible for managing a database containing more than 2,700 foods commonly consumed in Aotearoa. In this episode we hear more about what the New Zealand Food Composition Database is and how to use it from Dr Carolyn Lister, leader of the Food and Health Information team at Plant & Food Research. The database is very easy to use with a variety of search options including searching on a

en-nz

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scigest - Plant & Food Research podcast

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