Prof Neal Mc Laren, from the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Department of Plant Pathology, will deliver his inaugural lecture on Wednesday 17 August 2005 at 19:00 in the CR Swart Auditorium on campus.
The topic of the lecture is Beyond the pathogen: revisited”.
Prof Mc Laren obtained his B Sc, B Sc (Hons) and M Sc (Agric) at the University of Natal and Ph D (Plant Pathology) from the University of Pretoria. In 1977 he was appointed as a research technician at the former Department of Agricultural Technical Services, was promoted to professional officer in 1983 and in 1995 to specialist scientist at the Agricultural Research Council. In 2003 he was appointed as Associate Professor Extraordinary in the Department of Plant Sciences at the UFS and in 2005 as a full-time Professor of Plant Pathology.
Prof Mc Laren has published 32 papers in accredited scientific journals or refereed proceedings which include two feature articles. He also has three book chapters to his credit. He has presented 35 local and 18 international conference papers and has been an invited/keynote speaker on a number of occasions. He has published 26 popular articles, co-supervised several post-graduate students and been an examiner of a number of dissertations/theses. He has acted as referee for numerous journal articles and was associate editor for African Plant Protection. In 1998 he received the ARC-President’s Award and in 1999, an award from the Sorghum Producers Organisation of the USA for outstanding research.
Prof Mc Laren’s principle area of interest has been diseases of sorghum with emphasis on ergot, damping-off and seedling blights, root rots and grain molds. In addition, root rots of maize and more recently, soybean rust have received attention. He has a particular interest in quantitative epidemiology.
For any enquiries, please contact Ms Joan Nel at (051) 401-9301.
Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
16 August 2005