Bruce Campbell, who has been made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, inspects a kiwifruit of the Psa-resistant Gold3 variety. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Bruce Campbell, who has been made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, inspects a kiwifruit of the Psa-resistant Gold3 variety. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Dr Bruce Donald Campbell, Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to plant and food research
If you had kiwifruit with your breakfast this morning you should perhaps say thank you to Bruce Campbell.
Ditto if, like an increasing number of Northlanders, your livelihood depends on the kiwifruit industry.
That’s because the Kerikeri-based scientist led the team of researchers and growers who found a solution to the Psa crisis of the 2010s that threatened to wipe out the entire industry.
That’s just one of the achievements recognised today with Campbell’s appointment as a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
When the Psa vine-killing disease first appeared in New Zealand, Campbell was the chief operating officer at Plant & Food Research.
His response was to pull together a broad team of people of differing backgrounds and expertise.
“Psa was an opportunity to collaborate really closely with the kiwifruit industry. I got the opportunity to lead a team of more than 100 scientists on angles to solve the problem. In the end, we managed to come up with a new approach and a new variety which gave growers confidence to keep growing kiwifruit.”
Collaboration has been one of the hallmarks of Campbell’s 38-year career.
Working with others allowed scientists to see things in a different way, learn, and solve big problems that couldn’t be solved by an individual or even one team, he said.
In the 1990s he led an international group of about 300 scientists researching climate change in relation to the pastoral sector. Back then it was a new, and highly contentious, area of science.
“I remember thinking at the time, ‘I hope I live long enough to see this taken seriously.’”
More recently Campbell has worked closely with Māori agribusiness and helped set up Nuku ki te Puku, a network of innovative Māori food companies in partnership with Callaghan Innovation.
“Technology can go so far in solving today’s problems. But increasingly we need to think about changing our behaviour as people. The te ao Māori view of seeing ourselves as part of nature, not separate from it, and having responsibilities to it, can take us a long way to designing what the next phase of our food system needs to look like.”
Campbell is currently working on developing a zero-waste “circular economy” approach, such as that being attempted at Ngāwhā Innovation Park, and developing new food products with a lighter footprint on the environment.
The thing he’s proudest of, however, is encouraging young people to go into science.
“Seeing a really strong next generation coming through gives me a lot of confidence in the future, along with seeing business and industry engaging more with science to come up with solutions together. It’s not for science to be arrogant and think it has all the answers. We need to work with local people who understand the importance of things like place, or whenua.”
He was “absolutely humbled and thrilled” by the honour, and indebted to his wife and three children who had allowed him to pursue a career in science.
Bruce Campbell at his home near Kerikeri with Te Puna Inlet in the distance. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Campbell has lived at Opito Bay for the past five years but his relationship with Northland goes back many decades to family holidays in Russell and links to the Plant & Food Research centre near Kerikeri.
He saw Northland as a place of challenges and massive opportunities.
“I really like the idea of being able to stay up here and make a contribution to the region. The food system we all rely on has to be constantly evolving to meet the needs of people and, increasingly, the needs of nature. Science has a really important part to play and that’s what drives me as a scientist to contribute to making the world a better place.”
Campbell’s other awards include the Prime Minister’s Science Prize in 2017 for saving New Zealand’s kiwifruit industry from the Psa crisis.
