Alison Stewart

Dame Alison Stewart (born 1957) is a New Zealand biologist who specialises in plant pathology. From 2018- 2025 she was the CEO of the Foundation for Arable Research, based in Christchurch.

Early life and education Stewart was born in Scotland in 1957. She completed a BSc majoring in botany in 1980 at the University of Glasgow and graduated from the University of Stirling in 1983 with a PhD in plant pathology.

Career Stewart moved to New Zealand where she became a senior lecturer in biological sciences at the University of Auckland in 1984.

She was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2009 Birthday Honours in recognition of her services to biology, in particular plant pathology. Her investiture was held in the ballroom at Lanarch Castle in Dunedin.

In 2011 Stewart was honoured by Lincoln University as the inaugural Distinguished Professor of Plant Pathology. she joined Marrone Bio Innovations in California in April 2013. She returned to New Zealand as general manager, forest science at Scion, formerly the New Zealand Forest Research Institute. In March 2018 she became the CEO of FAR, the Foundation for Arable Research.

Her research has focused on developing bioprotection technologies and included extensive studies of Trichoderma.

Stewart has served as vice president of the New Zealand Plant Protection Society and the Australasian Plant Pathology Society. She has also been the Australasian councillor for the International Society of Plant Pathologists.

In 2026 Stewart was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi.