Di Barraclough enjoys unlocking the mysteries of the plant universe in her role as a horticultural laboratory manager. "I am working on a project to determine what the proteins in an apple do to make the apple turn brown in storage. By grinding an apple into mush, extracting proteins, and then separating, isolating and identifying them, we can work out which proteins cause the apple to discolour and use this knowledge to change storage conditions."

Di also enjoys the buzz around the laboratory when scientists and technicians sense they are close to solving a problem. "No one can explain the feeling you get when you have a breakthrough after months of trying. It's a great adrenalin rush and gets everyone excited about the successful work."

As with many other work situations, technology has changed Di's job. "When I started as a technician, computers were seen as luxury items, but now they are workhorses. We are generating so much data from our experiments every day that if it wasn't for computers and the statistics software programs we have access to, it would take months for us to assess the data. 

"Funding is still the biggest stumbling block for science though. I've been waiting for two years for software that is supposed to increase analysis capability 100-fold, so experiments have been backing up while we wait for the funding to purchase it." 

Although funding may be a problem, Di doesn't see it as a barrier to people finding work as a technician. "There's still a huge shortage of quality technicians in this country. New Zealand science is highly regarded throughout the world and New Zealand trained laboratory technicians are greatly sought after overseas, so a lot of technicians graduate from university, work here for six months and then move overseas. There's so much turnover that qualified technicians won't have to wait long for job opportunities to arise."