I have been involved in fruit crop physiology research for more than 40 years, focusing on improving productivity, fruit quality and sustainability of perennial fruit crops, including designing new growing systems. For the last 15 years, I have mainly focused on stonefruit, particularly cherry, apricot and almond, although I also have some involved in apple and blueberry research. A big focus has been the development of a new growing system, a narrow-row planar cordon system, which improves yield and reduces variability in fruit quality, as well as being labour efficient and amenable to automation. I have been leading the evaluation of apricot selections coming from the breeding team. Three new cultivars, with great flavour and juiciness, have recently been released. Two of these maintain firmness for much longer than current cultivars and are well liked by Asian consumer panels. I am also co-leading a research programme on Modelling High-Performance Apple Systems in the Digital Horticultural Systems Direction, which is part of part of Plant & Food Research's Ngā Pou Rangahau Growing Futures™. This multi-year platform has the goal of developing a digital twin platform for perennial fruit crops that will allow us to design and simulate, and ultimately, prescribe and control current and novel future food systems. I am the Science Group Leader for the Fruit Crops Physiology group. This includes teams working on apple & pear physiology, berry & stonefruit physiology, kiwifruit & subtropical physiology, carbohydrate physiology, beneficial biodiversity, bee biology & productivity and pollination ecology. I provide leadership and strategic oversight for the group.

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