Emmanuel Chakwizira a crop scientist at Plant & Food Research talks to Nicola Sullivan about his fascinating journey from a family farm in Zimbabwe to helping out our farmers in New Zealand, and the many interesting steps to get there.

This week, Hilary Irelands talks to Data scientist Dr Peter McAtee about eliminating noisy data, his work implementing machine learning methodologies to analyse massive data sets, and how he is experimenting with using 3D lidar imaging in a biological context.

Entomology Research Associate Sophie Hunt talks about her journey into science, her career in insect rearing and biocontrol research, and how insects are really fascinating, even the ones that make some people cringe!

Microscopy has developed hugely in the last 40 years, becoming a vital tool for learning more about all living things.

In this episode of Scigest, we talk to Microscopist Ian Hallet about his lifelong career utilising tools like electron microscopes, light microscopes and confocal microscopes to broaden our knowledge of subjects from fish to fruit.

New Zealand's main fruit industries depend upon producing high-quality, residue-free crops for export with a very low incidence of pest damage.

In this episode of Scigest, Blue Plunkett talks to Dr Jim Walker, from the Plant & Food Research Ecological Pest Management team, about how the Light Brown Apple Moth, a major leafroller pest threatening our horticultural industry, was successfully controlled using natural enemies (parasitoids) as a biocontrol solution. By reducing the need for spraying, the return of spiders, cobwebs and earwigs to our orchards is a good sign of flourishing biodiversity.

How does an organism without a brain make decisions? What do kiwifruit and an orchestra have in common? Do PhD students really sleep? Today Dr Jay Jayaraman chats with Erin Stroud, a 3rd year PhD student, about her pathway into science and answers those weird questions you didn't know you needed the answers to. Erin is currently investigating how kiwifruit plants use defense hormone signaling to control how they respond to different types of pest and pathogen attack.

The world is currently saturated with news about the negative effects of viruses but viruses can also be beneficial and, in fact, are vital to the existence of all living things on this planet. This week Hilary Ireland speaks to Dr Robin MacDiarmid, a passionate plant virologist spreading the message about the amazing world of plant viruses and how beneficial they could be in the future for our food production.

Plants aren’t just plants. Like animals, they are hosts to a large and complex community of other living organisms, like fungi and bacteria, that can be both beneficial and detrimental to plant growth and health. This week Nicola Sullivan speaks to scientist Hayley Ridgway about the fascinating world of a plant microbiome including her research into the manuka microbiome which could have significant benefits for the manuka honey industry.

COVID unleashed a world of risk, frustration and delay for development agencies and those they partner with. But amongst the carnage, has the response of the past 18 months turned up anything positive apart from a carbon footprint cut for agencies? In this COVID special, we hear from two experts. Josie Pagani, executive director at the Council for International Development, the peak body for development agencies in NZ; and Suzie Newman, who heads the International Development Unit at Plant and Food Research.

The team fly south to the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh to see how farmers, designers, scientists and business owners are working together to grow safer, more valuable vegetables. They hear from a dedicated agri-advisor and enjoy the farm and beautiful voice of young Cambodian cucumber farmer and part-time crooner, Sim Sokhon.