Unsung heroes of innovation
At AgResearch, science meets reality thanks to the brilliant minds in our engineering workshop. These behind-the-scenes champions turn ideas into machines, helping us bring cutting-edge agritech to life.
One of our own, Mos Sharifi, was recently featured by Engineering New Zealand for his incredible work in digital and precision agriculture — including leading the development of Clarospec™, a game-changing technology for meat quality assessment.
This recognition is a well-deserved bouquet for Mos and the entire engineering team who quietly power our breakthroughs.
Read the full story: /news-insights/advancing-agritech/
AgResearch #Agritech #Engineering #Innovation #Clarospec #ScienceInAction #BioeconomyScienceInstitute #NZAgTech
On air: David Hooks talks precision fermentation on RNZ
In this RNZ interview, David Hooks explores how precision fermentation is reshaping the future of food - cutting emissions, reducing land use, and opening new doors for sustainable protein production.
🎧 Listen now: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ruralnews/audio/2019005706/morning-rural-news-for-25-september-2025
🚗✨ The Bioeconomy Science Institute’s Discovery Squad is on the move! Eight of our science staff are travelling nationwide for two weeks, connecting, collaborating, and driving innovation across our institute.
At each stop, they’re listening, learning, and gathering insights to help us work even stronger together.
👉 Swipe through to see highlights from Week 1 of their adventure across the North Island!
🤝Our kaupapa has always been simple: Build trust. Deliver value. Serve with integrity🤝
From a single voice advocating for Māori partnerships and research within the AgResearch Group at the Bioeconomy Science Institute, the Māori Agribusiness and Partnerships team has grown from humble beginnings into a force with national influence and enduring partnerships that uplift whānau, whenua and the wider community.
Now, after two decades of mahi, we reflect on the impact we’ve made and why this continues to be essential – for Māori agribusinesses, for Aotearoa’s economy and for the future of research.
Through nurtured relationships, our legacy lies in the meaningful, measurable impact those partnerships have delivered. From creating innovative commercial opportunities, protecting the environment by changing on farm practice, or increasing animal production boosting farm revenue, the internal investment in Māori-related capability has produced huge commercial benefits.
We are proud of what’s been achieved, and even more excited about what lies ahead. With a committed team, strong relationships, and a growing recognition of the value we bring, we’re well placed to keep delivering research, solutions and new knowledge that empowers, connects and transforms.
Kaiārahi Matua, Ariana Estoras, will be speaking about the future of the whenua at Te Arawa Arataua Māori Agribusiness Summit in Rotorua next week on 3 September.
To read more about the impact of our work, head to our link in bio
🌱Are you a passionate and dedicated tauira Māori looking to gain experience in Aotearoa’s primary sector? Our two joint internships with DairyNZ are now open for applications 🌱
Our Environmental Science internship will see you’ll be hands on working on the amazing kaupapa we are doing in waterway health including E.coli monitoring, eDNA and catchment management.
Our Māori Partnership internship allows you to work alongside experienced kaimahi as they engage with Māori partners and support Kaupapa Māori approaches.
Sound like you? Find out more in our link in bio
☀️ Applications are now open for the AgResearch Group Te Puāwaitanga Summer Internship Programme ☀️
From food to forestry, bees to biomaterials, we are looking for tauira Māori who want to grow their skills and career pathways in Māori informed and mātauranga Māori led research.
Internships are available across the New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science Limited Groups.
Find out more in our link in bio
Mum to two energetic tama (5 and nearly 2), Sarah FitzPatrick loves getting outdoors for a bike ride, baking up a storm, getting her hands dirty in the garden, and sharing stories at bedtime. She’s quietly hoping to pass on her love for mountain bikes, flowers, and history books. Favourite guilty pleasure? Watties chilli beans with Mexicano brand thai sweet chilli corn chips—quick, vegan, and toddler-approved.
We had a great kōrero with Sarah about her journey with AgResearch:
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲/𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗴𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁?
Tēnā koe. I pakeke mai au ki te pāmu. Growing up on a farm, being surrounded by nature and biology and discovering science as my favourite subject at school, I have identified as a science nerd from a young age! During my PhD, I was lucky enough to be placed at AgResearch for the bulk of my work within the (then named) Proteins and Biomaterials team. I still remember a question in my PhD candidate interview: “Why do you want to do this PhD?” and I replied, “When I finish this, I want to be a scientist in public research, ideally here”.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼 𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝗴𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲)?
I’ve been in the AgResearch whānau for 8.5 years now and am now working in the Bioproduct and Fibre Technology team. We research how under-utilised and non-circular biomass, typically co-products from agriculture or industry, can be turned into new, multi-functional materials (think bio-functional bio-based plastics but so much more too!). Our materials lend themselves better to a circular economy than any of the existing everyday materials you might use in your farm, house, office, factory, supermarket, etc. We are busy cracking nature’s secrets about biopolymeric materials and comparing these to the best synthetic options that humans can invent. We love fibres but also other biomass too: I’ve worked with canola, wool, crustacean shells, sheep and cattle hide, plant fibres, and my colleagues have a much longer list!
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🌿Biosecurity professionals — are you ready to spot the next big weed threat?🌿
New Zealand is home to over 20,000 introduced plant species. While only a few hundred are currently classified as weeds, many others may be sleeper threats — limited in range or confined to cultivation, but with the potential to become serious invaders.
❓How do we identify which species pose the greatest risk?❓
Traditional risk assessment tools use 15–54 parameters and can take 5–24 hours per species to evaluate.
We’ve developed a streamlined, AI-powered model that uses just three parameters — climate match, global occurrences, and weed-related publication counts — all sourced from public big data.
It performs comparably to complex models; we've scored and ranked over 18,000 species; it’s designed to support faster, smarter biosecurity decisions.
Learn more about the research and the team behind it - link in bio
Farmers are known for their resilience - but the recent floods in the Tasman district have been truly heartbreaking ❤️🩹
In the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle in 2004, which devastated parts of the southern North Island, AgResearch scientists and partners developed a practical decision tree to support farmers in making informed choices during recovery.
This resource was created in collaboration with Federated Farmers, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (now MPI), the Sustainable Farming Fund, and Meat and Wool Innovation. It draws on insights from over 200 paddocks, firsthand experiences from flood-affected farmers, and expert input from AgResearch, Massey University, and rural professionals across many organisations.
Much of this advice remains highly relevant for Tasman farmers today - especially those seeking evidence-based guidance on restoring paddocks and planning for the long term.
Please share this with any farmer who may be wondering what their next step should be 🧑🌾
Link in bio
Image credit: Gisborne Herald
Roselyne Aleyo credits her mother as a driving force in her journey to becoming a scientist. She says her mother, who, despite her many responsibilities, relentlessly pursued education and knowledge, taught her the value of hard work, perseverance, and the importance of nurturing one's dreams.
Something we didn’t know about Roselyne was her favourite food, ‘githeri’ - a traditional Kenyan dish made from a mixture of corn and beans. What she loves most about the dish is the way each family/tribe has its unique recipe, adding special spices and ingredients that make it delicious and personal.
Roselyne sat down with us to talk us through her impressive journey so far to becoming a scientist and working at AgResearch:
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦?
My passion for the sciences led me to pursue a Bachelor's degree in Microbiology and Biotechnology at the University of Nairobi, followed by a Master’s in Microbiology. Throughout my studies, I gained industry experience through an internship at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). Alongside my academic pursuits, I took on roles in a waste-to-value company in Kenya. My work focused on reducing food waste by utilising black soldier flies to convert organic waste into alternative protein for animal feed and organic fertiliser. In 2022, I joined the World Agroforestry Centre (now CIFOR-ICRAF) as a research fellow in the Living Soils Lab, where I further honed my research, data analysis and presentation skills. In March 2024, I joined AgResearch as a PhD student after securing the NZGRADS PhD scholarship award funded by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA) in partnership with AgResearch.
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