What are the opportunities and challenges for feeding ourselves in the future?

Our panel of researchers and leaders covers a wide range of expertise and research in fields such as waste minimisation, food sovereignty, biotechnology and systems thinking. The panel will be ably led by celebrated scientist Dame Juliet Gerrard DNZM FRSNZ.

Pay what you can afford: recommended $15, but choose your own price!

Our panelists:

• Professor Dame Juliet Gerrard (moderator)

• Professor Phil Bremer - Chief Scientist for the New Zealand Food Safety Science Research Centre

• Professor Miranda Mirosa - Head of Department of Food Science, University of Otago

• Sue Smith - Puketeraki Marae Māra Kai coordinator

• Dr Olivia Ogilvie - CEO of Opobio Ltd

About the Panel:

Professor Dame Juliet Gerrard

Juliet trained at Oxford University and moved to New Zealand in 1993 where her career has included roles in both research institutes and universities. Her research background is in chemical sciences, and she has a broad range of governance and advisory experience. From 2018 to 2024,

Juliet served as the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor in New Zealand, working from a base of four founding principles: rigour, inclusivity, transparency, and accessibility. She supported the science and science advisor community to provide advice to the PM, ministers, and the public on a wide range of topics, including advice on the Christchurch Mosque shootings, the response to the Whakaari | White Island eruption, the Cannabis referendum, and the Covid-19 pandemic.

On her return to academic life at the University of Auckland, Juliet is pivoting her research interests towards the interface of research and policy. Particular interests include communicating science in contested spaces, science advice in crisis situations, waste management as an entry point to create social license for sustainability, and policy settings needed to embrace opportunities afforded by emerging technologies.