Keynote Speakers
Honorary Professor Lester Burgess
Honorary Professor Lester Burgess has had a career-long interest in the biology, epidemiology and control of soil-borne fungal pathogens. His research has been focussed on the ecology, biology, taxonomy and pathology of the genus Fusarium. In particular he has researched Fusarium diseases of wheat, sorghum and maize, and studied the mycogeography and taxonomy of Fusarium in grassland ecosystems across Australia. Since 1992 he has also been involved in capacity-building projects in plant pathology in Vietnam and later in eastern Indonesia, funded by ACIAR, AusAID and the ATSE/Crawford Fund. He is a member of the NSW committee of the ATSE Crawford Fund. Lester is an Honorary Professor of the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at the University of Sydney where he was appointed to the staff in 1971.
Dr David Eagling
Dr David Eagling is Research Leader of the Cooperative Research Centre for National Plant Biosecurity. After obtaining his PhD from the University of Melbourne, David has been active in the fields of plant virology, plant disease epidemiology and insect viruses. More recently David has obtained a postgraduate degree in agribusiness and has worked as a research leader in various capacities for the Victorian Department of Primary Industries. David's interest in strategic planning and plant biosecurity has seen him develop several national research programs in partnership with various authorities and research agencies in Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand and China. In accepting a management position with the Cooperative Research Centre for National Plant Biosecurity, David and his family are embracing a lifestyle change on a rural property complete with horticulture and various livestock.
Dr Evelina Facelli
Dr Evelina Facelli graduated in Agricultural Sciences with major in Plant Breeding and Ecology at the University of Buenos Aires in 1981, and started researching Plant Ecology as a Research Fellow studying changes in plant community structure after abandonment of farmland. Her PhD studies on the role of mycorrhizal symbiosis in plant intraspecific competition and population structure were conducted in the laboratory of Professor Sally Smith at the former Soil Science Department at the University of Adelaide. This allowed her to combine soil microbial ecology and her interest in plant interactions. From 2000 to 2006, she worked as a postdoctoral fellow with Dr Eileen Scott on the study of a new disease of pistachio trees. Working in this laboratory gave her the opportunity to learn about plant pathogens and how to approach the study of plant disease epidemiology. Dr Facelli is currently working on mycorrhizal ecology studying the molecular and physiological mechanisms underlying the effects of mycorrhizas on plant competition. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Prof. Sally Smith, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, at the University of Adelaide
Professor David Guest
Professor David Guest’s research seeks to integrate plant defences into sustainable plant disease management options for farmers and land managers. He is particularly interested in diseases caused by Phytophthora, with a focus on tropical horticulture. At the bench his research investigates the coordination and execution of complex and simultaneous defence responses, including hypersensitive cell death, phytoalexins and cell wall reinforcement. He has demonstrated that enhancing these defences, for example with phosphonate, effectively limits pathogen development. His fieldwork involves partnerships with research institutes and farming communities around the Asia-Pacific region, and is funded from a range of sources including the ARC, ACIAR and AusAID. His past research included a significant contribution to our understanding of the role of moulds in human asthma. He currently supervises 9 postgraduate students. He has published over 60 articles in scientific journals, several book chapters and reviews, and has given over 20 keynote, plenary and invited addresses to international conferences. He is Professor of Plant Pathology and Associate Dean (Development) in the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at the University of Sydney.
Professor Dr Jutta Ludwig-Müller
Professor Dr Jutta Ludwig-Müller is the Head of Department of Botany at the Technische Universität Dresden, Germany. Her research interests and expertise are within plant-pathogen and plant symbiont interaction as well as in plant hormone physiology. This involves projects, which aim to elucidate the molecular basis of plant- symbiont interactions (mycorrhizas) and plant-pathogen interactions (clubroot). Current projects include (1) transcriptome analysis, expression and functional analysis of genes of interest using mutant approaches during the clubroot disease, (2) understanding the role of phytohormone signalling in the development of clubroot disease in Brassicas and Arabidopsis, and (3) evaluation of strategies to control clubroot. Her expertise lies in (a) the determination of plant hormones and plant secondary metabolites by HPLC and GC-MS methods, (b) generation and investigation of transgenic plants and mutant lines, (c) histology of clubroot and resistance screens.