Mark is a Principal Scientist in the AgResearch FarmSystems and Environment Group.  His specialist research area is soil and nutrient management in agricultural systems with an emphasis on decreased environmental impact. As a result of over 30 years of research, development and extension activity in this topic, he has a good grounding in the issues, and legislation, relating to agri-environmental interactions, firstly in the UK(particularly the Nitrates and the Water Framework Directives) and now in NewZealand. Mark leads one of AgResearch’s key research programmes on ‘DigitalAgriculture’.  This investigates how new and emerging technologies could enable the transformation of food production systems to address global challenges of sustainably supplying safe, nutritious food to a growing population in a world with an increasingly volatile climate.