Nematology in South Africa: A View from the 21st Century From its Early Beginnings to Facing New Challenges

Hendrika Fourie’s nematology career started in 1991 at the Grain Crops Institute of the then Department of Agriculture. She obtained her MSc and PhD qualifications thereafter at the North-West University and University of Leuven, respectively. She conducts fundamental and practically-applied research, focusing on the development of nematode management strategies for various food crops, and trains postgraduate students. She enjoys running and travelling across the globe!

Vaughan Spaull was awarded his PhD in nematology from the University of Reading in England, in 1973. Prior to that he was employed as nematologist in the South Orkney Islands with the British Antarctic Survey. Later he worked as a biologist on Aldabra atoll with the Royal Society. Thereafter he joined the South African Sugarcane Research Institute at Mount Edgecombe, where for 32 years his primary interest was the management of plant parasitic nematodes. He is now retired.

Robin Jones was awarded hisPhD in 1976 from London University. He moved to the Citrus and Subtropical Research Institute in Nelspruit where he worked on the nematode problems of bananas. In 1980, he returned to the UK and worked as an abstractor for CABI. In 1981, he returned to South Africa working in the Crop Protection Industry dealing with the development and marketing of nematicides. In 2006, he started a consulting and analytical services business, is an active Rotarian and enjoys cycling

Mieke Daneel was awarded her PhD at the Rand Afrikaans University in 1989 after which she started working at Agricultural Research Council - Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Crops (originally Department of Agriculture). She is still at the same institute based in Mbombela. The research of Mieke and her team is focused on alternative control strategies for nematodes in bananas, subtropical crops and vegetables.

Dirk De Waele received MSc degrees in Zoology and International Co-operation Development,and a PhD degree in Nematology (1983; University of Gent). He worked at the Grain Crops Institute in Potchefstroom (South Africa) from 1984-1989 and thereafter as a senior scientist at Plant Genetic Systems (Belgium) and science advisor for the Minister-president of Flanders. In 1994 he joined the Laboratory of Tropical Crop Improvement (University of Leuven) and focused on the development of low-input nematode management strategies and the effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on plant-parasitic nematodes.