Jacqueline Sara Rowarth (born 1956) is a New Zealand

agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.) is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the Uni ...

dairy farmer Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for the long-term production of milk, which is food processing, processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for the eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy ...

and science administrator."Jacqueline Rowarth - farmer elected director"
dairynz.co.nz. Retrieved 14 February 2023.

Career

Rowarth was born at

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, England. She moved to New Zealand in 1976 and has an

agricultural science Agricultural science (or agriscience for short) is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Professio ...

degree with first-class honours in environmental agriculture, and obtained a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

soil science Soil science is the study of soil as a natural resource on the surface of the Earth including soil formation, soil classification, classification and Soil survey, mapping; Soil physics, physical, Soil chemistry, chemical, Soil biology, biologica ...

from

Massey University Massey University () is a Public university, public research university in New Zealand that provides internal and distance education. The university has campuses in Auckland, Palmerston North, and Wellington. Data from Universities New Zealand ...

, with a 1987 thesis titled ''Phosphate cycling in grazed hill-country pasture''. She worked at

AgResearch AgResearch Ltd (formerly known as New Zealand Pastoral Agriculture Research Institute Limited) is one of New Zealand's largest Crown Research Institutes with over 700 staff and revenue of NZ$160.7 million in the year to June 2014. The New Zea ...

for six years before teaching plant science at Lincoln University. From 2000 to 2004, she was dean of the postgraduate division and director of research at

Unitec Institute of Technology Unitec ( Māori: Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka) is the largest institute of technology in Auckland, New Zealand. 16,844 students study programmes from certificate to postgraduate degree level (levels 1 to 9) across a range of subjects. The main c ...

. She was briefly associate professor at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

, from 2005 to 2006. She returned to New Zealand as a professor, teaching at Massey and the

University of Waikato The University of Waikato (), established in 1964, is a Public university, public research university located in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university performs research in nume ...

. In October 2016, Rowarth left Waikato to become the first chief scientist of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). In 2018, she resigned from her role at the EPA; it was later revealed that the EPA was warned Rowarth's behaviour was damaging trust in the organisation, apparently due to comments to the media about environmentalist concerns that she deemed unwarranted. According to Rowarth, she was often misquoted. Rowarth became a farmer-elected representative on the board of DairyNZ. In 2024, she is a director, and also adjunct professor at Lincoln University.

Views

Rowarth has strongly criticised

veganism Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a vega ...

. She has argued that a vegan diet will not save the planet from

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

and has also argued that an omnivorous diet including a moderate amount of

dairy product Dairy products or milk products are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, goat, nanny goat, and Sheep, ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food around the world such as y ...

s and

meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...

delivers the required nutrients per person for least environmental impact. Rowarth has also criticised

regenerative agriculture Regenerative agriculture is a conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems. It focuses on topsoil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, improving the water cycle, enhancing ecosystem services, supporting biosequestration ...

based on the restoration of soil fertility through techniques like water retention and composting, and supports the intensification of agricultural practices with higher levels of inputs and output per unit area.

Honours and awards

In the 2008 Queen's Birthday Honours, Rowarth was appointed a

Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

, for services to agricultural science. In 2024, she was awarded the Jubilee Medal by the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science, for "her contribution to primary resource science as a leader in research, education, technology transfer and communication".

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowarth, Jacqueline Sara 1956 births Living people Academic staff of Lincoln University (New Zealand) Academic staff of Massey University Academic staff of the University of Waikato Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit Companions of the Royal Society of New Zealand Massey University alumni New Zealand soil scientists New Zealand women academics People from St Albans Women soil scientists British emigrants to New Zealand