BSPP Plant Health Club ‘Plant Pathology in UK Agriculture’

Aoife O’Driscoll (NIAB) will share her experiences of working as a plant pathologist in UK Agriculture.

BSPP Chair: Matthew Dickinson, University of Nottingham and BSPP Vice President

BSPP Co-chair: James Fortune, VCS Agronomy Ltd.

After my BSc in plant biology from University College Cork, I moved to Norwich to do a fantastic MSc in Crop Genetics at UEA. I then worked as a molecular biology technician with the fruit breeding team at East Malling, before heading back to Ireland to do my PhD with Teagasc and UCD, investigating sources of resistance to Septoria in both wheat and the model species Brachypodium distachyon. There followed a few hard right turns career wise, including working for an agrochemical company preparing registration dossiers, and as a horticultural plant pathologist with ADAS, managing experiments on everything from cyclamen and heuchera to Brussel sprouts and leeks to raspberries and apples. I’m now back working mainly on arable pathology projects at NIAB, but in an applied and front facing role. Much of my time is spent speaking, listening and collaborating with people from across the agricultural supply chain, and translating the excellent academic research of my colleagues into outcomes for those living in ‘the real world’ of farming and food production.

Read more about the BSPP Plant Health Club here.

Register for this event below by getting a ticket – registration will close on the 12th March

You will receive a confirmation that your registration has been received, and the zoom link for the meeting will be emailed to you a day or two before the event.