Dr John Roche calls for renewed focus on science careers for youth

In an exclusive interview with Rural News, he says that science is a great career for young people and there is a need to engage with them to share the passion and benefits of being a part of the great science sector.

Roche says older scientists need to start talking up the profession because no young person wants to work with someone who is constantly talking it down.

"We need to involve the Gen Ys and Gen Zs of the world because they don't want to be tied to a desk for 40 years before they retire. They want variety in their lives, they want to be given opportunities, they want to be able to travel and do different things," he says.

Roche says having young people around keeps the older scientists young. He says a real joy in his life as an academic was dealing with young people. He says the challenge is to create opportunities operational minds of critical thinking.

"How we capture that intellect into science and create those hybrid models is something I would like to explore," he says.

Roche says his own career evolved to where it is today because of the opportunities he was offered along the way.

Roche is modest about his qualifications for taking on the role. He says when he was first told he had the job, he wondered if he was something of an imposter, but on reflectuion concluded that he was up for the job.

He describes himself as an inherently curious individual with a true passion for science. He likes to ask questions of people more intelligent than himself.

Roche was born in County Kerry, Ireland, but has spent the last 25 years in New Zealand. He is currently the chief science advisor at MPI and will retain that role, as his new appointment, while incredibly important, is only part time.

He has a PhD in animal nutrition, a master’s degree in farm systems and previously worked for DairyNZ but has worked in numerous other roles in other countries. He is unashamed about his passion for agriculture.

“I am an ag person. You can take the boy off the farm, but you’ll never take the farm out of the boy,” he says.

But that is only part of his story.

Roche has worked right across the science spectrum with biomedical scientists, immunologists, physicists and modelers. He’s also run his own consultancy businesses, worked in others overseas and has experienced the ups and downs of business life.

“So, bringing science to impact is a true passion of mine and I think that is one of the key reasons why the Prime Minister asked me to step into this role,” he says.

Front Row Seat

Since he was appointed to his new role, John Roche has been meeting with science leaders in NZ and overseas.

For example, he recently met with Ireland’s new chief science advisor, Professor Aoife McLysaght, who expressed a great keenness to work more with NZ.

Roche has important, established networks and contacts worldwide and an entrée to top people in governments and the private sector.

“That international experience built up over time is a big advantage,” he says.

At home, he has meetings with officials from MBIE and leaders in the new CRI restructure. He says they are all up for the challenges and he believes there is an appetite right cross the public sector science spectrum to make the changes work.

“This is so exciting and I have a front row seat to watch this happen,” he says.

The Challenges

John Roche says while the light is shining on agriculture, NZ needs to increase productivity in a sustainable way – a task he describes as difficult.

He says it will require innovation, out of the box thinking and a whole range of people from different disciplines working together – not just agricultural scientists but engineers, chemists, ecologists and a whole lot more to produce the required multifaceted solutions.

In terms of science leadership globally, Roche says NZ country has a proud history of science and innovation going back over more than a century. He says, for example, that NZ was the first country in the world to dry milk and export it the four corners of the globe. He notes the great work that Fonterra is doing today in terms of producing a huge range of milk-based ingredients.

“Take Sir Peter Jackson. He revolutionised the filmmaking industry with technology that was developed in NZ; Xero did the same for the accounting industry and Sir Peter Beck has done the same in the space industry – all this from little old New Zealand,” he says.

Roche says NZ is a world leader in many aspects of science but he acknowledges that there will be areas that other countries will be surpassing us. The plus for our country is that we have a track record of being a great collaborator and we don’t have to replicate what everyone else is doing.

“We can just work alongside them and take advantage of what they are doing and also help them. I have never met a scientist in the world who doesn’t want to talk about the work they are doing, and to explain how they have come to that conclusion,” he says.

The key, says Roche, is to tap into those global networks and use them to our advantage.

He says while NZ science system has done well, it hasn’t been as impactful as it could be, and he hopes to see the emergence of more commercialisation. He senses a shift in this area and believes that the restructuring of the science system now taking place will mean that NZ will become a more marketable option for investors. He says he’s already had a venture capitalist talking up the changes.

“Yes, we need more money, but it doesn’t necessarily have to come from government and there is a need to draw it from other places. I think our structure will help us do that; so will prioritising key research areas.

“And getting out there and highlighting the brilliant science that we do in NZ will ensure that people will see us as great place to invest in science and technology,” he says.