Dr Tanira Kingi

An extensive background in agricultural systems, land economics and forestry makes Dr Tanira Kingi (Ngati Whakaue / Te Arawa) a valuable addition to our Value Chain Optimisation Team. Tanira joined Scion in July as research leader in primary industry systems, having previously spent five years at AgResearch in a number of roles from science advisor, senior scientist and portfolio leader.

Tanira will be working across a number of key research areas, including projects that focus on optimising production systems and land use, but also limiting environmental impacts including greenhouse gas emissions and reducing nutrient leaching into waterways.

“My main focus will be from a land economics perspective. I’ll be working with the VCO Team and other economists to evaluate options for land-use change and diversification. We’ll be developing tools and models to both optimise land use and integrate alternative land uses including forestry.

“I’m working at Scion in a part-time capacity; the rest of my time is spent on boards and I’m a consultant to the agricultural industry. Much of this work complements projects that I have with Scion, for example, advising Maori land entities to develop integrated land-use options on under-utilised land. I have been actively working with Maori landowners for over 20 years now, so look forward to building on these relationships in my capacity as research leader at Scion.”

Tanira is a member of the oversight group for the Our Land & Water National Science Challenge and co-leads two projects as well as being advisor to the challenge on the Vision Matauranga component.

In recent years, Tanira has been developing policy frameworks with regional councils to reduce nutrient leaching into waterways. He is currently an advisor to the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and chairs a number of groups established under the council. He is currently working with the council and Rotorua Lakes Council to establish the governance structure for the regulatory rules, farmer support and economic development programmes for the Lake Rotorua catchment.