After an initial career in conservation, David headed to Princeton University on a Fulbright Award in 2005 to begin his PhD. It was during his doctorate that he got hooked on pollination, with a focus on native New Zealand plants.

As a scientist with Plant & Food Research he now studies the pollination of economically important crops, bringing an ecologist’s perspective to production systems.

He leads a government and industry funded programme to develop alternative pollination systems and spends considerable time pondering the complexities of avocado pollination and dreaming up new ways to house bumblebees.