Dr Caradus is Chief Executive of Grasslanz Technology Ltd, a fully owned subsidiary of AgResearch. Grasslanz invests in the development of plant products and technologies for pastoral agriculture both in New Zealand and offshore. In 2010 Grasslanz Technology won the NZTE awards for best commercialisation of intellectual property internationally.

Previously, Dr Caradus was CEO of Dexcel Ltd, and a Science General Manager for AgResearch with specific responsibilities for customer management and governance of the Cultivar Development and Management Unit. He had particular responsibility for overall management of customers in the forage seed industry.

Dr Caradus has a background in agricultural research with particular emphasis on plant breeding. He was the Science Leader for the Plant Breeding and Genomics Platform in AgResearch during the late 1990s. During that time he integrated molecular genetics and plant breeding into a single research platform.

Dr Caradus has a PhD from Reading University (UK). He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2006 and is also an Honorary Fellow New Zealand Institute Agricultural Science, and Fellow Agronomy Society New Zealand. He has been a Global Programme Leader for the New Zealand Dairy Industry On-farm Research and Development in the area of Forage and Feeding. He is a Past President of the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural Science, and Past President of the New Zealand Grasslands Association. He is currently chair of the New Zealand Plant Breeding and Research Association.

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