Soil Health, Soil Biology, Soilborne Diseases and Sustainable Agriculture

About the Author

Dr Graham Stirling, with his wife Marcelle, runs a company that provides research and disease diagnostic services to Australia’s rural industries. His areas of expertise are Plant Pathology, Nematology and Soil Ecology. In a career spanning 45 years, he has worked on many of the crops grown in Australia and published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers.

Dr Helen Hayden is a Soil Microbial Ecologist at the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources in Victoria, Australia. She completed her PhD at the University of Queensland, specialising in diseases of bananas, and her recent research has been on disease suppressive soils for Rhizoctonia in cereals.

Dr Tony Pattison is the Principal Nematologist and Soil Health team leader for horticulture within the Queensland Department of Agriculture, Australia where he investigates plant-parasitic nematodes and soil health in a diverse range of tropical horticultural crops. His interest in soil ecology and disease suppression currently focuses on competition for carbon within the soil.

Dr Marcelle Stirling is a Plant Pathologist and Microbiologist and has worked on many aspects of soil biology. Her research career began at the University of California, Riverside, USA where she studied nematode-trapping fungi. Together with Graham, she now provides research and plant disease diagnostic services to Australia’s rural industries.