Scion's Parker relishes his new role

He has only been in the job for seven weeks, but Warren Parker's passion for his new role with Scion is obvious.
Warren took over the position of chief executive at the Crown Research Institute on March 7 and says he is settling in very well.
"It is an exciting place with great people and I'm enjoying getting to know the industry."
He has been getting up to speed on what is happening at Scion itself and at the Te Papa Tipu Innovation Park - home to PF Olsen, SWI, Future Forests Research and the Radiata Pine Breeding Company - and the likes of Red Stag.
Warren sees science and innovation as vital to driving New Zealand's economy.
"The world is changing faster than ever before and the ability to be profitable, with a low environmental footprint, in an open, export-orientated economy such as New Zealand, is now much more about new ideas, products and services than simply about natural advantage."
He says working in science means helping to make the future. It is a field he would like to see more young people enter as it can be difficult finding New Zealanders with the qualifications and skills required.
"Initial interest in science needs to be generated when children are at primary school. Bringing science alive in practical ways to show how it touches our lives every day, rather as a stereotype of 'boring white coats in labs' is important."
He says it is important for young people to appreciate that a career in science can contribute to making the world a better, safer place.
"Think of Charles Fleming and penicillin, 'Winkie' Sutton and New Zealand forest research or, to name just one example at present at Scion, Alan Fernyhough and his team discovering how to make biodegradable bioplastics using wood and other renewable materials to replace those made from increasingly expensive oil."
However, he says there are also definite benefits to employing international scientists. "Science is a global business and being networked to leading researchers around the world is very important because New Zealand produces less than 0.5 per cent of all new knowledge. For forestry, we can benefit a lot from sharing ideas with the North Americans and Europeans, who also have significant forest industries and associated research. This means we can adapt to, rather than duplicate, a considerable amount of new knowledge and equipment to meet New Zealand's needs, thereby making faster progress."
But New Zealand also needs to be a world leader in some areas and Scion is playing a role in that. Warren is no stranger to the Crown Research Institute environment, having held the chief executive role at Christchurch's Landcare Research for five years and also spent five years at AgResearch. His experience with the University of Queensland's Institute of Molecular Biosciences commercialisation unit fits well with the growing alignment of research with commercial applications.
"We are changing the emphasis in the way we work with industry, as well as the way we are funded. This is a good thing because, to maximise the value of government investment in science and to ensure our industry keeps ahead of its competitors, we need to be joined at the hip with industry."
He sees a need for both long-term, higher-risk research offering big advances and short-term fixes.
"We can get the balance right by working on a unified, aspirational strategy for New Zealand forestry that will increase its profitability, resilience, number of jobs and contribution to New Zealand's economic, environmental and social performance. That's not a trivial challenge."