Caroline Saunders
Caroline left school to follow her first passion, which was to work with horses. She returned to education and enrolled in the Agriculture and Agricultural Economics programme at the University College of North Wales (Bangor University). She completed her BSc (Hons) degree in 1980 and then entered the PhD programme in Agricultural Economics at Newcastle.
Between 1985 and 1996, Caroline worked in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Food Marketing at Newcastle University, first as Research Associate and then as Lecturer. With Prof. Martin Whitby, Caroline established the first undergraduate degree programme in Countryside Management.
Martin Whitby spent 1977/78 as a guest of Prof. Bruce Ross at what was then Lincoln College. Caroline was given a similar opportunity in 1994/95. She enjoyed that year so much, she returned to a permanent academic position in the middle of 1996 as Senior Lecturer in the Commerce Division of Lincoln University. She was promoted to Associate Professor in 1999, and to Professor of Trade and Environment Economics in 2001. This was the year Caroline became Director of the Agribusiness and Economics Research Unit (the AERU). She continued in that role until the end of 2024.
Caroline received many honours for her work in the AERU. In 2007, she received the NZIER Economics Award. In 2009, Caroline became an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit. The New Zealand Association of Economists made her a Life Member in 2019. The photo shows Caroline being given the certificate to mark her election in 2020 as a Fellow to the Academy of the Royal Society Te Apārangi. In that same year, Lincoln University gave her the rare title of Distinguished Professor and Caroline gave Her Presidential Address to the Agricultural Economics Society in the United Kingdom.
Caroline’s research has focused on how to build global value chains that maximise export returns for food and beverage exporters. Caroline made a decisive impact on the Food Miles debate by showing that New Zealand agrifood exports to the United Kingdom are better for the environment than the same products sourced from Europe. This led to a series of large multidisciplinary science programmes that Caroline led. Recognising the importance of that work, the AERU team was selected as one of three finalists for the Science & Research Award at the Primary Industries New Zealand Awards in 2024.
Caroline has accepted appointments by the Crown to leadership roles. She was Director of Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research between 2015 and 2023 and was a member of the Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee between 2019 and 2024.
You can download a CV for Caroline here .