Colin Eady spent his childhood within the farming community of East Anglia in the UK. He studied zoology and genetics at the University of Sheffield, followed by a postgraduate certificate in education before embarking on a Ph.D in plant biotechnology. As a student he took a great interest in environmental matters and for a short time joined the environmental group Friends of the Earth, as a sign of his concern about pesticide use within agriculture.

For his Ph.D he studied cell fusion as a method of transferring agronomic traits to sugarbeet from wild relatives. Though not technically GM work it was carried out within GM laboratories at the famous Rothamsted Experimental Research Station, Harpenden, UK. It was here Colin saw the potential of GM to help alleviate huge pesticide use by the agricultural industry. It is also when he first got the opportunity to travel to New Zealand He spent three months on environmental projects in Fiordland. During early postdoctoral research Colin worked on a UK government project at the University of Leicester investigating early concerns of GM pollen escaping field sites.

In 1994, Colin and family got the opportunity to work at Crop & Food Research in New Zealand on Onion Biotechnology. After four years, his team developed the world�s first onion transformation system. This is now being used for improving agronomic traits and investigating health and nutrition aspect of onion biochemistry. In addition to the onion biotechnology, Colin currently lectures at the Lincoln University and is a project leader within the Advanced Agri-Biotechnology theme at the National Centre for Advanced Bio-Protection Technologies.

Outside work Colin enjoys family life with his partner and three children. Any spare time is spent doing gardening, renovating or sport.

ENDS


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CONTACT:

Dr Colin Eady Tel. 03 325 6400 (w)  Mobile 027 222 8092

While every care has been taken when preparing this document, no liability will be accepted by the New Zealand Institute for Crop &; Food Research Limited for any loss or damage suffered as a result of applying the information contained in this document. Copyright �; 2000 The New Zealand Institute for Crop &; Food Research Limited, Private Bag 4704, Christchurch, New Zealand.�;