scigest - Plant & Food Research podcast
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 www.plantandfood.com/scigest for even more information on Scigest!
To help you discover the podcast topics and research that interests you, Scigest is split into series, each covering different scientific topics. The series are as follows:
PPF: People|Planet|Food
FTS: From the sea
FTL: From the land
BDIS: Biosecurity, disease and insect science
STK: Science in the kitchen
NT: New technologies
ID: International development
SLFM: Science life for me (Our people)
SMAS: Science movers and shakers
SIS: Starting in science
- Update frequency
- every 14 days
- Episodes
- 177
- Years Active
- 2017 - 2025
A leap into data science (NT)
Data and science have always gone together. With the evolution of fast processing, the ability to rapidly analyse data has transformed.
In the first episode of our new data science series, host H…
Thu 19 May 2022
Always science (SLFM)
This week, Jay Jayaraman chats to scientist Mark Anderson about his fascinating and varied science career. They discuss how getting get your foot in the door was very different in the 1980s, fungal p…
Thu 05 May 2022
Talk science (SIS)
Being a scientist isn’t all just lab work! Communicating your research to other scientists, industry, and the public is integral. Host Erin Stroud speaks with Maree McEntee, a social scientist and le…
Thu 21 Apr 2022
Meet the new Scigesters (SLFM)
Get to know more about the newest members of our Scigest team - Hilary Ireland, Jay Jayaraman, Erin Stroud, Nicola Sullivan, Rebecca Bloomer and Ria Rebstock - their science work, and their thought…
Thu 07 Apr 2022
Master of hops (SLFM)
New Zealand has some of the most sought-after hops in the world. Dr Ron Beatson chats to Scigest host Nicola Sullivan about leading the research and development of hop breeding and genetics at Plant …
Thu 24 Mar 2022
Science Women (SIS)
In the second instalment of our Starting in Science series, co-hosts and PhD students Erin Stroud and Hilary Ireland chat to a star-studded line up of panelists to celebrate International Women’s Day…
Mon 07 Mar 2022
Beginners guide to a science career (SIS)
Have you ever wondered how to start your science career? In the first episode of our Starting in Science series, hosts PhD student Erin Stroud and Scientist Jay Jayaraman ask the experts, Dr Richard …
Sun 27 Feb 2022
New gene discovery for cloning in global agriculture (SS)
Scientist Dr Ross Bicknell discusses the discovery of a new gene described as a game-changer for global agriculture with Scigest host Hilary Ireland. Named PAR, the new gene allows natural reproducti…
Thu 13 Jan 2022
Fishing For the Answers: applying DNA sequencing to study the species in our oceans (SB)
Hoki is one of the most important fish species for the NZ seafood industry. Understanding more about the populations of hoki around NZ is vitally important for the future management and conservation …
Tue 21 Dec 2021
Catch crops, cleaner freshwater (SS)
The nitrate debate is a hot topic in Aotearoa New Zealand. Farmers need efficient methods to mop up excess nitrogen and reduce leaching from our soils into our waterways. Scientist Brendon Malcolm ta…
Tue 09 Nov 2021
Journey from Zimbabwe (SLFM)
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 …
Thu 21 Oct 2021
A whole new world of data (SS)
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 exper…
Thu 23 Sep 2021
Inside an interesting insect career (SLFM)
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 s…
Thu 09 Sep 2021
A lifetime of magnifying the opportunities (SLFM)
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 lifel…
Wed 25 Aug 2021
Spiders in, leafroller out – a success in biocontrol (BIOSECURITY)
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…
Wed 18 Aug 2021
How an old idea sparked a new science career (SLFM)
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 stu…
Tue 20 Jul 2021
The good rap on viruses (SS)
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 …
Thu 01 Jul 2021
A plant microbiome, it’s a whole new world (SS)
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 growt…
Thu 17 Jun 2021
FROM THIS LAND: COVID episode 5 (ID)
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 positiv…
Mon 07 Jun 2021
FROM THIS LAND: travelogue episode 4 (ID)
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 ded…
Mon 07 Jun 2021
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