Members

Neal started his career in 1977 as a research technician at the former Department of Agricultural Technical Services, was promoted to professional officer in 1983 and in 1995 to specialist scientist at the Agricultural Research Council: Grain Crops Institute. In 2003 he was appointed as Associate Professor Extraordinary in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of the Free State and in 2005 as a full-time Professor of Plant Pathology. During his tenure at the ARC, Neal worked with the Sorghum Trust, addressing industry- related pathology issues and played a role in the Southern African INTSORMIL-CRP, with collaborations with Kansas State and Texas A&M Universities, especially during the global sorghum ergot epidemic. These collaborations transferred with him to UFS, forming a platform for post-graduate studies in applied field pathology and epidemiology, as well as fostering international collaborations between these collaborators and the university. When the INRSORMIL-CRP was finalized in 2013, international collaboration on sorghum pathology continued with the Howard G. Buffett Foundation through the Norman E. Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture of Texas A&M AgriLife Research. This collaboration was extended to include legumes. Following the introduction of soybean rust, Neal joined the PRF/OPOT task team which, together with chemical and seed companies, addressed the epidemiology of the outbreak. Subsequently, the spread of Sclerotinia stem and head rot of soybean and sunflower respectively, led to further collaborations which are currently ongoing. Neal retired at the end of 2018 but remains involved as a Research Fellow in post- graduate student supervision and related research activities.

Researcher: Canola, Maize, Soybean and Sunflower

Contacts / Social Media:
Email: mclarenN@ufs.ac.za
Orcid ID: 0000-0002-8122-5783
Website: http://www.ufs.ac.za/homepage

Marlese Meiring is currently busy with her doctorate in Plant Pathology at the University of the Free State (UFS). Professor Neal McLaren is her supervisor from (UFS) and her co-supervisor is Mrs. Lisa Rothman also from the UFS. The title of her thesis is, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum disease potential and management responses in soybean and sunflower. Marlese focuses on the response of both soybean and sunflower cultivars to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum at different localities as well as the effect of fungicides on Sclerotinia disease and statistically analysing the data of the field trials.

Researcher: Soybean and Sunflower

Contacts / Social Media:
Email: mcbester6@gmail.com
Twitter: @marlesebester
LinkedIn: marlese-meiring
Speaker Deck: marlese
Orcid ID: 0000-0002-3791-7264
Website: http://www.ufs.ac.za/homepage

Adré Minnaar-Ontong is currently employed as a senior lecturer in Plant Breeding at the University of the Free State. Her research focus mainly on disease resistance in different crops to improve disease management strategies. The genetic variation of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum populations on different hosts in South Africa (Project 1) contributed towards the development of a breeding programme for resistance to this pathogen in economically important oil crops and other hosts (Project 2). A culture collection of more than 950 Sclerotinia sclerotiorum isolates from across eight of the nine South African provinces is maintained at the University of the Free State. Adré’s research futhermore includes the genetic analysis of soybean resistance to Fusarium sudden death syndrome as well as breeding for resistance to pod dehiscence in vegetable-type soybean. Her research team includes Dr Chrisna Steyn and 2 post-graduate students.

Researcher: Soybean and Sunflower

Contacts:
Email: minnaara@ufs.ac.za
Website: http://www.ufs.ac.za/homepage

Ms Lizette Nowers is the initiator and project leader for the registered project: Monitoring of Sclerotinia Stem Rot of canola in the Western Cape. She has been registered as a Certificated Natural Scientist with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP) since 2012. As a member of the Conservation Agriculture Western Cape society, she merges conservation agriculture principles with plant disease control strategies in all her trials. She is also a member of the Southern African Society of Plant Pathology (SASPP) – attending their congresses and having delivered a scientific poster on her research on Sclerotinia Stem Rot (SSR). She is also a participating member of the South African Sclerotinia Research Network.

Researcher: Canola

Contacts / Social Media:
Email: lizetten@elsenburg
Website: http://www.elsenburg.com/

Lisa Rothmann is finalising her PhD in Plant Pathology at the University of the Free State (UFS). Professor Neal McLaren is her supervisor from UFS. Her co-supervisor is Professor Emerson Del Ponte from the Federal University of Viçosa, Brazil. Lisa enjoys focusing on applied and computational epidemiological research. Her studies involve field trials, disease monitoring and measuring, as well as data science. She has the hope of generating regional risk models for sclerotinia disease onset in South Africa. Lisa is an advocate of open and reproducible research and a junior leader at Open Plant Pathology.

Researcher: Soybean and Sunflower

Contacts / Social Media:
Email: lisa.ann.rothmann@gmail.com
Twitter: @LandbouLisa
LinkedIn: lisaannrothmann/
Speaker Deck: landboulisa
Orcid ID: 0000-0002-3489-866X
Website: http://www.ufs.ac.za/homepage

Chrisna Steyn, currently employed as a senior assistant officer in Plant Breeding at the University of the Free State and assist in research mainly focused on Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. She did her postgraduate studies focusing mainly on Sclerotinia stem rot on soybeans with a M.Sc. titled, Study of inoculation and disease evaluation techniques for sclerotinia stalk rot (sclerotinia sclerotiorum) of soybean and a Ph. D. study titled Soybean response to rust and Sclerotinia stem rot under different biotic and abiotic conditions. She is currently working with Dr. Adre Minnaar-Ontong, focusing on a population genetic study of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in South Africa with the aim to incorporate this data into breeding programs and assist with the development of resistant/tolerant cultivars, mainly soybean and sunflower.

Researcher: Soybean and Sunflower

Contacts:
Email: SteynC@ufs.ac.za
Website: http://www.ufs.ac.za/homepage

The primary focus of my research is the diagnosis, epidemiology and management soilborne pathogens of various perennial field crops. I have been involved in research on Sclerotinia diseases on soybeans since 2016, when Ms Liezl van der Hoven began her MSc degree, entitled Sclerotinia sclerotiorum on soybeans in South Africa: Aspects of disease control and resistance. Ms van der Hoven submitted her MSc thesis for examination in April 2018 and the results are due in June 2018. Over the past two years, I attended a number of soybean grower days and was invited to speak at the Bayer Sclerotinia information day in 2017. Liezl and I have co-authored two lay publications on the Sclerotinia-soybean pathosystem. I have authored and co-authored 39 peer-reviewed articles since the start of my research career, with two in press; written chapters or sections for three books and >40 lay articles (including two on Sclerotinia stem rot). I have been invited to speak at more than 30 local grower days in the past 10 years. I was given the Publicity Award of the Southern African Society for Plant Pathology in 2009; the Best researcher presentation at the annual Potatoes South Africa Research Symposium (2015) and the Applied Plant Pathologist Award from the Southern African Society for Plant Pathology in 2017. I was a keynote speaker at the European Association of Potato Research conference in August 2016 in Dundee, Scotland. I was keynote speaker at the Potato Association of America meeting in July 2018, an invited speaker at the International Conference of Plant Pathology 2018 conference in Boston and the Southern African Society of Plant Pathology conference in 2019. These invitations pay credit to my local and international reputation in the agricultural arena.

Researcher: Soybean (primarily) and Sunflower

Contacts / Social Media:
Email: jacquie.vanderwaals@up.ac.za
Twitter: @jacquievdw
LinkedIn: jacquie-van-der-waals-9875b211
Orcid ID: 0000-0001-5737-6277
Research Gate: JE_Waals
Website: http://www.ufs.ac.za/homepage

My research specialization is on the molecular biology of plant pathogenic fungi, with a focus on the use of genomics and molecular tools to study the basic biology of these species. I focus my studies on pathogens of economic importance in the commercial forest and agricultural sectors. The goal of my work is to develop a better understanding of these fungi in the South African context, while doing research that is of global importance.
The research program I work in is based at FABI at the University of Pretoria. This program aims to provide support for the South African Agricultural sector through world-class research on economically important crops and their associated pests and diseases. My specific focus is on the fungal pathogens of these crops, with a initial focus on Sclerotinia. Although there is a wealth of information available for many of these species, little is known about how this applies in the Southern African context.

Researcher: Sunflower, Any crop that shows infestation by Sclerotinia

Contacts / Social Media:
Email: markus.wilken@fabi.up.ac.za
Twitter: @pmwilken
Orcid ID: 0000-0003-0827-6098
Research Gate Profile: Markus_Wilken2
Website: https://www.fabinet.up.ac.za

I completed my Msc degree (Plant sciences) in 2019 at the University of KwaZulu Natal. I am currently doing PhD in Genetics at the university of Pretoria (FABI) under the supervision of Dr Markus Wilken. My study focuses on Genetics and genomics of South African isolates of the agricultural pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.

Researcher: Sunflower

Contacts / Social Media:
Email: sikelelathobani@gmail.com

Mandla Sibiya is currently wrapping up his Masters degree in Agronomy under the supervision of Professor Nico Labuschagne from the University of Pretoria. Plans are already underway for him to pursue his PhD under the supervision of Professor Jacquie van der Waals, who was also his Masters degree co-supervisor.
His main research focus is on soil health, to be specific, how various cropping system practices (e.g. crop rotation, crop rotation sequence, cultivation practices) affect different soil health indicators over time. He is current working in conjunction with various bodies, as part of his soon to be started PhD, to monitor how different crop rotation sequences affect soil health, where he will assess selected physical, chemical and biological soil health indicators over time. The trial selected for his studies is situated in the Free State potato-growing region of South Africa. As a new research focus, he will also be working on Sclerotinia sclerotiorum for his PhD. For this purpose, he will study the effects of various factors (including rotation sequence of the Free State trial) on the germination of sclerotia in an effort to optimise cultural practices that enhance the control of this economically important pathogen.