Dr Ben van Hooijdonk, BApplSci Honours (Massey), PhD (Massey), has worked within the New Zealand horticultural industry for 25 years across diverse crops including pomefruit, summerfruit, grapes and kiwifruit. He presently works as a Senior Scientist at Plant & Food Research, improving plant productivity, fruit quality and sustainability of orchard systems. He is presently a member of the ISHS council.