Geoffrey started with the Commission in March and will be interning for a year. His responsibilities involve lab work where quality analysis is done to further the research on current apple breeding programs and storage trials, field work such as sample collection and harvesting as well as learning opportunities through field days, workshops and conferences or meetings.
Geoffrey was lucky enough to grow up on his dad’s apple and pear farm in South Africa, outside a small town called Caledon, about 2 hours drive from Cape Town. Geoffrey went to Rondebosch Boys High school and from there worked on an Undergraduate degree in plant and soil science (Horticulture and Agricultural Economics) at Stellenbosch University.
Geoffrey has experience working on his family apple and pear farm doing a variety of tasks such as tree training, pruning and harvest. He has done brief work in neighboring farms doing fruit counts and crop load management. Geoffrey says growing up on a fruit farm was an amazing privilege and has provided many learning opportunities as well as building a passion for the outdoors.
Geoffrey is the youngest of three boys, his eldest brother, Stuart, is currently working on the farm with his dad. The middle brother, Hylton, is a landscape architect who works from Cape Town. Geoffrey’s mother is a clinical psychologist who works from her practice in a nearby town. They are a close nit family that loves spending time with each other in the outdoors, whether it’s walks on the farm, mountain biking or spending time near the ocean.
Geoffrey has a variety of hobbies and interests but mainly enjoys spending time outdoors in various forms. He also enjoys reading and spending time around the braai (barbeque)!
