Jack Hosking – Research Associate, Plant and Food Hawkes Bay

Jack Hosking – Research Associate, Plant and Food Hawkes Bay Jack’s journey into Horticulture came from a desire to live and work outside of Auckland and its busy corporate lifestyle. Jack’s parents encouraged him to study horticulture. He knew that a Horticulture Science degree from Massey University would give him the ability to work in an environment that had a more balanced lifestyle. Jack was not keen to be an Auckland university student. Jack said it was a relatively underdeveloped industry and he could see a lot of potential there for advancement.

Jack is currently working in Hawkes Bay for the New Zealand Institute of Plant and Food Research Limited which he loves. He says it offer him the ability to only have a 5-minute drive to work, be surrounded by a rural landscape, drive only 10 minutes down the road to the beach, have the ability to go tramping and have a stunning climate.

The reason why Jack chose Massey is that he had heard that it was in the North Island and he had heard that it was the best in New Zealand. He said Massey was smaller than Auckland universities, he would feel less like a number. He liked the idea of knowing his lecturers. The other thing he liked was that the degree was hands on, there were orchards to work on and it had a mix of outdoor learning. Jack said he did not want to learn in a lab but instead be aligned with real production skills and be taught fundamental knowledge.

Although Jack did finish his Bachelor’s degree during COVID in 2020 much of his learning was done in person. Jack says that he would far rather learn this way as it holds him accountable. Keeps him on task and in person. He likes the fact that the lecturer is right there. Questions can be asked straight away and learning, he felt, was easier this way.

Jack’s Master’s study was really engaging, he enjoyed being on campus and interacting with the lecturers. He found the lecturers very engaging and knowledgeable which was very useful for his study. Jack completed his thesis on blueberry post-harvest pathology. He investigated the occurrence of fruit decays during storage under various temperature and humidity conditions. Jack isolated the microorganisms causing the fruit decays and sequenced their DNA to identify the species. This was the first study of this type in NZ on this crop and he recorded two new occurrences of pathogens causing rots in blueberries.

Jack’s current role at Plant and Food is as a research associate in apple breeding. He assesses the disease resistance of new apple varieties and helps carry out the production of new cultivars. Jack particularly enjoys evaluating fruit quality, sometimes tasting up to 60 apples a day. He also enjoys helping discover new genes providing beneficial traits to growers and backcrossing these genes into new varieties. He still eats two apples a day, although once you’ve had a good apple, you can’t go back to regular store bought apples.

Jack’s advice to students is that Horticulture will offer them a work life balance. It is economically a high growth industry. There are plenty of good jobs with work life balance in smaller towns, often in beautiful locations, where you can earn well. Massey allows students to engage one on one with knowledgeable

lecturers who care about student’s success. Jack advises that you make the most of the lecturers, they are there to help you to learn, they are friendly, and they can help you access opportunities you wouldn’t otherwise find.

In horticulture every day is different, and every year is an iterative improvement on the last.