Commitee

Dr Tonya Wiechel is a plant pathologist at Agriculture Victoria passionate about understanding and managing the complex interactions between soilborne pathogens, crops, and their environments.

Her research journey began with Phytophthora cinnamomi in the Brisbane Ranges, inspiring a career dedicated to soil health and disease management. She has explored key potato diseases—common scab, powdery scab, Rhizoctonia, and Verticillium—and now leads research on root rot of apples and pears.

Tonya brings a practical, systems-based approach to tackling soilborne challenges and is committed to fostering

Research Leader – Plant Pathology, Agriculture Victoria, Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA), Victoria Horsham

Adjunct Principal Research Fellow, School of Applied Systems Biology, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia.

Joshua’s research specialises in pulse pathology, soilborne disease and surveillance. The Plant Pathology research team covers grains, horticulture, diagnostics and biosecurity.

Joshua currently leads multiple national GRDC projects and is the Victorian node leader in Program 3 of the National Soil-borne Disease Initiative.

He started as a research scientist in 2013 for the Victorian Government, managing a soil-borne disease program. The soil-borne disease program focused on root lesion and cereal cyst nematodes. Joshua re-established the Pulse Pathology research program from 2018 in Horsham, while still supporting the soil-borne disease program. During 2022, Joshua became the Research Leader – Plant Pathology at Agriculture Victoria. He has always been passionate about agriculture and enjoys the balance of field and office work, while having the ability to communicate with growers and agronomists to keep the research program relevant to industry.

Dr Nigel Crump is a plant pathologist and General Manager of the Australian Seed Potato Industry Certification Authority (AuSPICA). With expertise in the management of potato diseases, he works closely with growers, seed potato producers, and regulators to strengthen seed quality, biosecurity, and certification standards. Internationally, he serves as Co-Deputy Chair of the UNECE Specialised Section on Seed Potatoes and as Company Secretary and Communications Chair of the World Potato Congress Inc. A Director of Potatoes Australia Ltd, Nigel’s leadership promotes innovation in diagnostics, digital certification, and sustainable trade, ensuring the resilience and global reputation of the Australian potato industry.

Chloe Findlay is a research scientist working for the Field Crop Pathology team at Agriculture Victoria in Horsham, Victoria. Chloe completed her Honours in Agriculture at the University of Melbourne in 2021, where she researched the impact of temperature on the development of botrytis grey mould on lentil.

Chloe is managing part of the Pulse Pathology Research program with her focus being Sclerotinia white mould, Ascochyta blight, Botrytis grey mould and soilborne diseases of pulses.

Dr Chantelle Girgan is a Senior Diagnostician and Research Scientist in the Crop Health Services team at Agriculture Victoria Research. Chantelle is a Nematologist with 15 years experience in Nematology and 10 years experience in diagnostics.

Previously, Chantelle was a researcher the curator of the National Collection of Nematodes in South Africa. Chantelle’s research interests includes nematode taxonomy, plant-parasitic nematodes (especially lesion nematodes), free-living nematodes and soil health.

Chantelle also has experience in the identification and enumeration of nematodes, nematode diversity and ecology in both natural and agricultural ecosystems, glasshouse trials with root-knot nematodes, and nematode surveys in various cropping systems.