Centre for Crop and Disease Management

🌏 International Women’s Day
Today we celebrate the incredible women at CCDM driving innovation in plant pathology. We’re highlighting Grace Fang, Research Associate in the wheat powdery mildew team.
@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

Meet Technical Operations Coordinator Ketesse Hansen.
Her career has spanned physics, outreach, safety, medical equipment repair — and now crop disease research. This #IWD2026, we’re celebrating incredible and inspiring women like Ketesse at CCDM. 💜🔬
@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

Fungicide resistance is rising—so researchers are looking beyond chemistry. GRDC Research Fellow Dr Elizabeth Czislowski is exploring DNA nanoparticles to disrupt fungal pathogens, starting with septoria nodorum blotch.
Read here 🔗 groundcover.grdc.com.au/weeds-pests-...
#GRDC

As we lead up to #IWD2026, we’re celebrating Hediyeh Tahghighi, Research Assistant at CCDM, whose work on lentil & chickpea Ascochyta blight is strengthening crop resilience.
@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

🎉 Congratulations to CCDM’s Johannes Debler on being a recipient of the 2026 Regional and Remote Science Meets Parliament Scholarship. A well‑deserved recognition highlighting the importance of regional and remote science 👏
@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

🌾 GRDC Grains Research Update – Kalannie.
Hear from leading ag experts on the current state of play for the region. CCDM’s Nola D’Souza will be sharing insights and management strategies for fungicide resistance.
Sign up here 👉 buff.ly/WPB21wO
@curtinuniversity.bsky.social #GRDC

As we lead up to #IWD2026, we’re celebrating Kristina Gagalova, Bioinformatics Scientist and part of AGGI, whose work bridges cutting‑edge genomics with real‑world agricultural impact.
@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

In the lead up to #IWD2026, we’re highlighting Associate Professor Julia Easton 👩‍🔬🌾
Julia drives innovation at CCDM—building partnerships, leading demand‑driven research, and turning data‑focused research into real impact for Australian agriculture. 🌱💡

@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

In the lead up to #IWD2026, we’re celebrating women in research at CCDM.
Meet Elyce Iagallo, whose work on yellow spot disease in wheat is helping support the development of more resilient crops.

@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

🌟 #IWD2026 Spotlight: Dr Sarita Bennett 🌟
From her PhD in Birmingham to leading ag research in WA, Sarita now serves as ACDiA President and Interim Deputy Head of School at Curtin.

@curtinuniversity.bsky.social #GRDC

🌱 CCDM researchers have mapped how the fungicide fluxapyroxad moves through barley with cm‑level precision.

Recently published, “Foliar Distribution of Seed‑Applied Fluxapyroxad in Barley,” shows older leaves accumulate the most.

📄 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
@curtinuniversity #GRDC

In the lead-up to #IWD2026, we’re recognising Jiaping Du!
Jiaping has strong GCMS/LCMS skills, and both a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Agricultural Science, she brings a passion for sustainable agriculture and innovative research to CCDM.
@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

NEW PUBLICATION from CCDM!
Our team has uncovered a WA soil microbiome that naturally suppresses Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.
Read here 🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@curtinuniversity.bsky.social , #GRDC

Make sure to add this week's CCDM talk to your calendar 📆 If you're on #CurtinUni campus Friday 27 at 12pm, come hear from CCDM’s Rachael Crockett as she explores From PPE to petals: Rethinking insect control in research environments 🪲🌸

Updated!🌾
We’ve refreshed our data on Australian wheat sensitivities to key necrotrophic effectors.
Growers, advisers & researchers can explore the latest info here:
👉 www.ccdm.com.au/necrotrophic...
@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

Day 2 at #GRDCUpdates 2026 Perth ✅

Great to hear Jordi Muria-Gonzalez present on how fungicides move inside plants and to connect with growers, industry and research partners over the past two days. 🌾

Thanks to GRDC for a fantastic event!

@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

Had the pleasure of hosting Dr Giovana Cruppe & @theGRDC visiting fellow Prof Romulo Lollato from KSU at the @theccdm.bsky.social today. Excellent presos on wheat blast and agronomy! 🔥🔥🔥

Day 1 at GRDC Perth Updates 2026!

Strong presence from CCDM, with Mark Gibberd chairing “CCDM in the Spotlight.”

Great talks from our PhD students, plus presentations by Nola D’Souza (AFRN) and Liz Czislowski (nanoparticle solutions).

#GRDC, @curtinuniversity.bsky.social

Great to host Prof. Romulo Lollato and Dr. Giovana Cruppe from Kansas State University at CCDM today.
Romulo presented “Magnitudes and causes for wheat yield gaps in North America” and Giovana shared “Meet the Cereal Killer: an overview of Wheat Blast.”
@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

Great to see CCDM’s sclerotinia stem rot team preparing resistant material for this year’s experiments 🌱🧪
@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

🎫 #GRDCUpdates Perth 2026 are right around the corner!
Catch Jordi Muria‑Gonzalez presenting “Understanding how fungicides move inside plants.”
📅 Tue 17 Feb | 🕑 11:45am
📍 Session 18 – Crop Management
Register now 👉 buff.ly/kREkfa9

#GRDC, @curtinuniversity.bsky.social

Getting some B-roll filming done by the @theccdm.bsky.social comms crew for our next sciency press release 😎🤘

🎓 Celebrating CCDM graduations! Congratulations to PhD graduates Shota Morikawa and Johannes Debler, and Honours graduate Ciara Gifford. Your research, innovation and commitment are strengthening grains science.

@curtinuniversity.bsky.social #GRDC

🔬🌾 Happy International Day of Women & Girls in Science! 👩🔬🎉 At CCDM, we’re proud of the incredible women in our centre working to lessen the impact of disease in the Australian grains industry! 👩🌾💡 Here’s to empowering women in ag science today & every day! 🚀
@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

Happy World Pulses Day! 🌾✨
Pulses like chickpeas, lentils & beans are small but mighty—boosting global food security! 🫘💚 We’re tackling diseases like ascochyta blight to protect these vital crops for future generations. 🔗https://buff.ly/4huDmLA
#GRDC, @curtinuniversity.bsky.social

Proud @theccdm.bsky.social moment! Our PHD student Shota Morikawa earned his stripes! @callumverdonk.bsky.social

🎫 #GRDCUpdates Perth 2026 are right around the corner!
Catch Liz Czislowski presenting..
"Nanoscale solutions to a really big problem: a nanoparticle-based approach to to fighting fungal pathogens"
📅 Mon 16 Feb | 🕑 2:15pm
📍 Session 8 – The Future of Agriculture
Register now 👉 buff.ly/kREkfa9

Make sure to add this week's CCDM talk to your calendar 📆 If you're on #CurtinUni campus Friday 13, come hear from Kansas State University’s Romulo Pisa Lollato as he explores Magnitudes and causes for wheat yield gaps in North America🌾

🌾 Student Spotlight
Meet Grace Foley — a PhD researcher uncovering the effectors behind septoria avenae blotch (SAB) in oats.

WAARC‑supported, she’s investigating necrotrophic effectors in Parastagonospora avenae to help breed SAB‑resistant oat varieties.

@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

Make sure to add this week's CCDM talk to your calendar 📆 If you're on #CurtinUni campus 12pm Friday 13, come hear from Kansas State University’s Giovana Cruppe as she explores Meet the cereal killer: an overview of wheat blast 🌾