BSPP Plant Health Club: ‘Living Science’ personal careers and experiences in plant pathology

‘Living Science’ – Santa Olga Cacciola (University of Catania, Italy), Lucy Carson-Taylor (APHA), and Eric Boa (BSPP) will discuss personal careers and experiences in plant pathology 

BSPP Chair:
Eric Boa, BSPP Meetings

Co-chair:
Charlotte Nellist, NIAB EMR

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Meetings are recorded and are available for BSPP Members here

Dr. Santa Olga Cacciola – Biography

Santa Olga Cacciola is Associate Professor of Plant Pathology at the University of Catania (Italy). Her expertise is on fungal and oomycetes pathogens causing diseases of crops and forest trees in the Mediterranean region. She has identified and described new species of Phytophthora infecting ornamentals, fruit crops and forest trees and has published reviews on different topics, including molecular diagnostic methods in plant pathology and major diseases of citrus and olive. She is author of EPPO diagnostic protocols, senior editor of both the Plant Disease Journal (APS Press),  the Journal of Plant Pathology (Italian Society of Plant Pathology), Journal of Fungi (MDPI) and Plants (MDPI).

Lucy Carson-Taylor – Biography

Lucy began her career in plant health in 2006 by doing a lot of filing, typing and packing of samples. After several job changes Lucy now leads plant health engagement at the Animal and Plant Health Agency and works across several teams at Defra in tree health, communications, policy and social science. Recent examples of campaigns are Don’t Risk It, National Plant Health Week and Izzy the Inspector. Lucy has produced many award-winning exhibits at shows and events and is best known for favouring a multi-sensory and interactive approach.

Lucy is the former UK National Expert on plant health engagement to the European Commission working group, consultant to Denmark and maintains a position on the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organisation panel on engagement.

Lucy has an MSc in Plant Pathology and is a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, a Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and a Member of the Royal Society of Biology where she is registered as a Senior Plant Health Professional.

When not at work Lucy is an enthusiastic wine student and always hopes a plant health question will pop up in exams.

Eric Boa – Biography

I eventually got to plant pathology after completing a B.Sc. in Botany at the University of Aberdeen in 1975. An enjoyable four years at Leeds allowed me to complete my PhD on ash canker under the inspiring tutelage of Tom Preece. Then I headed East, for six years in Bangladesh and bamboo blight, courtesy of the Overseas Development Administration. From there I followed in the footsteps of quite a few others, completing two years of clove disease in Indonesia, again with ODA.

I thought I had exhausted the worlds never-heard of diseases but more excitement was in store when I joined NRI in 1991 and began to work on woody legume diseases in Central America. Gliricidia little leaf leapt out at me and Jill Lenn on day one of our first field trip and there began a long fascination with phytoplasma diseases.

By 1995 I decided that a change was needed (and also a slightly shorter journey to work) and was kindly accepted by the then International Mycological Institute, now CAB International. I had the privilege of leading an increasingly broad range of projects in terms of location, host and theme. I had already begun to straddle the divide between natural and social sciences in 1993 and in 1997 I was fortunate to meet with Jeffery Bentley, an agricultural anthropologist. This fruitful collaboration lasts to this day, sustained by an increasing flow of projects that target extension services and farmers as much as the plant diseases themselves.

I have worked with bamboo for rural development and also wild edible fungi but my main passion and interest now is the Global Plant Clinic. We range far and wide, combining expert laboratory diagnosis in all pest groups with new extension methods (Going Public) and, perhaps the most significant innovation, mobile or community plant clinics. With schemes in Bolivia, Uganda, Bangladesh and Nicaragua we are showing how good science can better serve the everyday needs of poor farmers in developing countries. The is important since the GPC is an alliance of CAB International, Rothamsted Research and the Central Science Laboratory and involves different organisations overseas who run the mobile clinics.

In a long and varied career that includes being (still) one of the founding editors of New Disease Record I am excited by the wider prospects for plant pathology and for improving access to plant health care. Therein lies the demand for more science and quality research to solve the never-ending stream of new diseases that arise and familiar ones that are neglected. Bring them on!

Read more about the BSPP Plant Health Club here.

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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.

Registration closes on 24th May