Lifetime achievement
developing new biological controls.’’
Elmer, who is based at the Plant & Food Research institute at Ruakura, was awarded the University of Waikato Lifetime Achievement Award at the Kudos Awards on Thursday night.
The annual Kudos Awards celebrate Waikato’s top scientists and their achievements.
Elmer leads a plant-research team focused on finding microorganisms to combat diseases. He moved to Hamilton in 1997.
‘‘In the beginning, we weren’t considered mainstream, but that was fine because we believed in what we were doing and that nature would provide us with the tools.
‘‘What we do is look at naturally occurring micro-organisms that are on our plants everywhere and then we work out ways to find the micro-organism that we’re looking for. These can then be used to attack the diseases we don’t want.
‘‘The great thing about some of these micro-organisms is we can take out some of the more ... less desirable agrichemicals.
‘‘Does Mother Nature hold the solutions to many of our disease problems? The answer is yes.’’
Elmer’s Ruakura Plant Pathology team picked up the Agricultural Science Award at Thursday’s Kudos Awards for their biocontrol work on the kiwifruit disease Psa. The team are the first in the world to commercialise three new biofungicides to naturally control grape bunch rot yearround. Despite receiving a lifetime achievement award, Elmer said he had a lot more work to do.
‘‘Particularly over the last decade, a lot of the need for these biological-based tools has ramped up.’’ Scientists celebrated at the 2018 Kudos Awards:
❚ Dr Philip Elmer, University of Waikato Lifetime Achievement Award
❚ Andrea Soanes, Wintec Secondary Science Teacher/Educator Award
❚ Kathleen Dabell, Hill Laboratories Laboratory Technician Award
❚ Dr Brendon Gill, Hamilton City Council Emerging Scientist Award
❚ Dr James Carson, Simcro Engineering Science Award
❚ Ruakura Plant Pathology Team, Kudos Science Trust Agricultural Science Award
❚ Dr Corinne Watts, Waikato Regional Council Environmental Science Award
❚ Michael Kaplan MD, PhD, Waikato DHB Medical Science Award