John Hunt died in Christchurch on August 19th 2007 at the age of 61. He was a co-founder in the early 1980's of Agrimm Technologies, a leading company in bio-control and environmentally sustainable plant protection.

John brought his scientific expertise and passion to the forefront at Agrimm as Technical Director and for the next 25 years his huge personal contribution to collaborative scientific projects built the company's national and international profile.

John was a world leader in the science of Grapevine Trunk Diseases and their control by the use of organic biological products. A regular attendee at the International Workshop on Grapevine Trunk Diseases John's international reputation raised the profile of New Zealand in this arena.

As Technical Director of Agrimm Technologies John traveled to the wine growing regions of Australia, South Africa, Italy, California and New Zealand establishing trials and contacts with universities and horticultural companies.

Over the years John gave many workshops and seminars on the use of biologicals in horticulture and was a particularly keen advocate of their use in grape vines. As a contributor at Romeo Bragato and other grape grower forums in New Zealand John was very well respected and will be greatly missed by the industry.

He is survived by Marjorie whom he married in 1969 and two daughters, Phillipa and Caro.