Biography
Contact info
Position:Co-Leader: World-leading Biosecurity ThemePhone:+64 3 325 9911Location:AgResearch LincolnDivision:Executive Management GroupDivision:World-leading biosecurityContact:Email FormAcademic and Professional Background
Academic and Professional Background:PhDFRSNZFNZIAHSFRESPersonal Resume:Chief Scientist at AgResearch and Professorial Fellow at Lincoln University, Stephen is widely recognised as a leader in his areas of expertise - pest management, biosecurity and science advocacy.
He has led programmes to explore mechanisms of biological suppression for three severe pasture pests in New Zealand - the clover root weevil (Sitona lepidus), Argentine stem weevil (Listronotus bonariensis) and the lucerne weevil (Silona discoideus). In doing so, he identified the critical importance of subspecies in biological control.
Stephen's fundamental research into insect behaviour and the ecological and genetic components of pest suppression have informed crop management generally.
He has authored more than 150 papers in scientific journals and conference proceedings. At the same time, Stephen has been highly influential in the development of sensor technologies to improve New Zealand's border biosecurity.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, and of the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science which awarded him the prestigious Jubilee Medal in 2007. That year he also won the Agriculture and Environment Category of the Bayer Innovators Awards. A Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society of London, Stephen was Advisor to New Zealand's Minister of Research, Science and Technology from 1996 to 1997 and President of the New Zealand Plant Protection Society from 2001 to 2003. He has served on numerous panels, providing science advice to government.
The Listener magazine placed him on their 2008 Most Powerful list as New Zealand's fourth most influential person in Science and Technology, describing him as "a formidable advocate for science".
