Dr Ross Ferguson ONZM, FRSNZ, AHRIH

Research Associate / Scientist with Plant & Food Research at Mt Albert, Auckland.

Ross Ferguson studied at Victoria University of Wellington and the University of Auckland and he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and the New Zealand Society for Horticultural Science, an Associate of Honour of the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture and served as their vice-president from 2003-2011. He was the Cockayne Memorial Lecturer in 1995, and Banks Memorial Lecturer in 2008 and again in 2019.

Ross is recognised internationally for his research over many years into the biology of the genus Actinidia (kiwifuit). He has written many important reviews and his own research work has concentrated on the nutritional physiology of kiwifruit, the taxonomy of the genus, the measurement of ploidy and genome size in kiwifruit and a number of other crops, and the benefits of kiwifruit consumption to the human diet. His work has enhanced opportunities within the Plant & Food (formerly HortResearch) kiwifruit breeding programs. He has also written extensively on the detailed history of kiwifruit domestication.

Dr Ferguson has developed many links with kiwifruit research groups overseas, particularly in China and Italy.