Graham Stirling
Rev.
12/01/2020
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Dr. Graham Stirling was raised on a wheat and sheep farm
on Kangaroo Island, Australia. He completed his B.Sc. (Honors) and M.S.
degrees at the University of Adelaide, where John Fisher introduced him to
the fascinating world of nematodes. Graham began his professional career as
a Nematologist with the South Australian Department of Agriculture at Loxton
in 1970 where he worked with
Meloidogyne
spp. on grapevine. Graham was awarded a CSIRO Post-Graduate
Studentship in 1975, which allowed him to move to the University of
California, Riverside. There he began a lifelong interest in biological
control of nematodes, working with Ron Mankau. Graham discovered a new
parasite of root-knot nematode eggs (Dactylella
oviparasitica) and demonstrated the importance of biological
control in suppression of nematode populations in some Californian peach
orchards. He was awarded his Ph.D for that work in 1978.
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After returning to Australia, Stirling
worked on Pasteuria
penetrans, an obligate parasite of
root-knot nematode. He developed an in
vivo culture technique that soon became the standard method of mass
producing the bacterium for research purposes, and in a landmark paper published
in Phytopathology in 1984, showed that inundative application of
Pastueria provided excellent control
of root-knot nematode.
In
1983 Graham joined the Queensland Department of Primary Industries.
He found that the causal agent of reduced yields in rice was a new
species of needle nematode (Paralongidorus
australis) that occurred naturally in
wet environments in north Queensland. During
his time in QDPI, Graham made a major effort to change the nematode management
practices used in Queensland’s horticultural industries. He saw nematicides as a
tool of last resort and tried hard to convince growers that the principles of
integrated pest management could be applied to nematodes.
He encouraged the use of forage sorghum as a rotation crop in the
vegetable industry, demonstrated the value of organic amendments in the ginger
industry and showed that nematode populations on many pineapple farms were not
high enough to warrant nematicide treatment.
Dr. Stirling retained his interest in
biological control and his book entitled ‘Biological Control of Plant Parasitic
Nematodes’ was published in 1991. He developed several commercially-acceptable
formulations of nematode-trapping and egg parasitic fungi and demonstrated their
potential in the field.
In 1997, Dr. Stirling and his wife,
Marcelle, initiated (Biological Crop Protection Pty. Ltd.) which allows them to
focus on research, diagnostic services and helping growers improve their disease
management. He introduced
sustainable management practices for soil-borne diseases, including developing
economic thresholds for root-knot nematode, establishing monitoring procedures
for key pathogens and providing predictive services for consultants and growers.
Graham Stirling’s energy, enthusiasm and
organizational skills have enabled him to contribute to a wide range of
agricultural and horticultural industries.
He has served as a Senior Editor of Australasian Plant Pathology, he was
a driving force behind the establishment of the Australasian Association of
Nematologists, he was a member of the committee that organized the first
Australasian Soil-Borne Diseases Symposium and he has supervised ten graduate
students at the University of Queensland and James Cook University.
In 2008, Dr. Graham Stirling was
named Fellow of the Society of Nematologists.
Source: Nematology Newsletter 54(2):5 and others.
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