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Nomination is a reminder that service through science matters

16 May 2025 | Story André Damons | Photo Supplied

Dr Lisa Rothmann, a plant disease epidemiologist from the University of the Free State (UFS) who was nominated in the TW Kambule-NSTF Award: Emerging Researcher category for this year’s NSTF-South32 Awards, says that the nomination is a reminder that service through science matters.

“I am humbled by the nomination. For me, it reflects not just individual recognition, but also the shared effort of the team of postgraduate academics, research assistants, partners, and farmers with whom I've had the privilege to work with. It is affirming to see plant pathology and field-based research recognised in this way; it highlights the consistent (hard) work we do to make a meaningful contribution to agriculture and to serve the grain industry and farmers,” says Dr Rothmann.

She was nominated by Grain South Africa (Grain SA), with whom she has been working closely since 2018 to contribute research that aligns with the organisation’s mission to strengthen the grain sector. They play a key role in supporting sustainable grain production and farmer development.

Dr Rothmann, who is one of eight UFS researchers and a research team nominated for the NSTF-South32 Awards – also known as the ‘Science Oscars’ – is nominated for her contribution to interdisciplinary, team-based research to develop practical solutions for plant diseases in order to protect crops and empower communities.

Motivation to keep growing

The Senior Lecturer in the Department of Plant Sciences within the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (NAS) says that while she is proud of the work she has done, she sees this recognition as a team effort. Says Dr Rothmann: “It motivates me to keep growing as a researcher, rooted in impact and integrity. I’m not a prolific peer-reviewed publisher; my academic record includes 10 journal articles and one book chapter, but I have written around 50 popular articles – often as a solo author, in collaboration with postgraduates and peers.”

“These pieces translate plant pathology topics such as the Sclerotinia life cycle, disease surveillance, and management into accessible information for producers and the public. To me, this nomination is a symbol that making a meaningful impact doesn't only come from journal impact factors. This nomination has reminded me that building a career in academia is a relay, not a race, and that lasting impact comes from investing in others.”

As a plant disease epidemiologist, she specialises in field pathology – an area of plant pathology that explores how disease epidemics in crops develop, spread, and can be effectively managed within agricultural systems. Their work centres on understanding and managing Sclerotinia diseases in oilseed and protein crops such as canola, soybean, and sunflower, as well as disease surveillance in key grain crops including dry bean, sorghum, and sunflower.

New research

After participating in the US-based National Sclerotinia Initiative in 2017, she was inspired to establish a South African Sclerotinia Research Network with the support of Grain SA, creating a platform for researcher collaboration, farmer engagement, and the development of on-farm management strategies. Over time, explains Dr Rothmann, their research has expanded to include cultivar screening, national disease surveys, fungicide registration trials, and the development of disease-assessment tools. More recently, they have embedded sociological surveys into sorghum disease work to better understand farmers’ knowledge and needs, ensuring that research remains practical and co-created with producers.

According to Dr Rothmann, they have been privileged to work in a space that supports producers and protects crops through applied plant disease management strategies. While high-value crops often attract attention due to export markets, the grain that feed the nation forms the backbone of food security. As part of their new research, Dr Rothman and the research team are currently contributing to the Sorghum Cluster Initiative's pre-breeding programme, where they have screened 160 accessions for diseases to support future cultivar development.

They are also going to explore how both emerging and commercial farmers will adopt these new cultivars. She is actively seeking collaborators in sociology/psychology or similar fields to better understand farmers’ decision-making. They are developing a plant disease dashboard to map disease occurrences across South Africa – an effort aligned with the Plant Health (Phytosanitary) Act 35 of 2024 to help guide appropriate disease risk categorisation. In the long term, concludes Dr Rothmann, they hope to establish a diagnostic hub for central South Africa in partnership with Agricultural Research Council-Grain Crops to strengthen local disease identification and support producers in real time.

News Archive

UFS awards honorary doctorate to global peace ambassador Dr Lakhdar Brahimi

2015-07-07

Professor Heidi Hudson, Director of the Centre for Africa Studies at the UFS and Dr Lakhdar Brahimi.
Photo: Mike Rose from Mike Rose Photography

The Faculty of the Humanities and Centre for Africa Studies rewarded the contributions of Dr Lakhdar Brahimi, a prominent global peace leader, with an honorary doctorate on Thursday 2 July 2015.

The conferment formed one of the highlights of the 2015 Winter Graduations. Dr Brahimi’s work as a United Nations’ (UN) envoy, and African peace leader of note, was deeply respected by the university. Professor Heidi Hudson, Director of the Centre for Africa Studies at the UFS, accepted the PhD on his behalf.

In his acceptance speech, read by Prof Hudson at the Chancellor’s Dinner the same evening, Dr Brahimi expressed his gratitude to the university. “I deeply appreciate your generous recognition, and even now, in the twilight years of my life, I shall try to be worthy of your confidence in everything I say or do.”

“My generation did its share: its successes and its failures are things of the past. We must accept to be judged by you, the graduates. You, the young graduates here at the University of the Free State, and your fellow members of the African intellectual elite, have an exciting opportunity to take on the challenges and fulfil the dreams you have. We must accept to be judged by you.”

Algerian-born Dr Brahimi was first involved with the UN in 1992 as rapporteur to the Earth Summit. Distinctively, he is the most-frequently appointed special envoy of the UN. Amongst many other countries, he has worked as a mediator for South Africa, Haiti, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Burundi, Angola, Liberia, Nigeria, Sudan, and Côte d’Ivoire on behalf of the UN.

Significant peacekeeping efforts in South Africa (1993- 1994)

The ambassador– in his capacity as special representative to South Africa from December 1993 to June 1994 –played a direct role in South Africa’s democratic transition.

Prof Hudson expressed appreciation for the ambassador’s role in facilitating a peaceful transition from South Africa’s Nationalist government into the current democratic dispensation.

“One of the reasons we selected him as recipient of the honorary doctorate, is because of what he did for the African continent,” she said.

In addition, she commented Dr Brahimi for being a living testament of Ubuntu. “He has displayed an ethic of humanism in everything that he has done, in the way that he has mediated in certain conflicts - his main contribution is as a mediator.

According to Hudson, his humility, modesty, and generosity are the epitome of Ubuntu which states that “I am because we are.”

Dr Brahimi as a global peace practitioner

Dr Brahimi served as Undersecretary-General of the Arab League, Arab League Special Envoy for Lebanon, and Foreign Minister of Algeria.

The UN Peace-building Commission was established as a result of recommendations in his2000 Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations (Brahimi Report).

Since 2007, Dr Brahimi has been a member in The Elders - an alliance chaired by Kofi Annan -of peace and human rights advocates including Desmond Tutu, Graça Machel, Mary Robinson, and Jimmy Carter. His passion for justice led to his membership in the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor.

In 2010, he was Laureate of the Special Jury Prize for Conflict Prevention, awarded by the Chirac Foundation (France), which promotes international peace and security.

Dr Brahimi’s influence in Peace Education

The Brahimi Report has had an indelible impact on scholars specialising in the broad field of peace operations. Dr Brahimi’s writings have also contributed to knowledge on post-conflict reconstruction and development (PCRD), a signification part of the African Union’s narrative.

He is a distinguished senior fellow at the Centre for the Study of Global Governance at the London School of Economics. He has taught a postgraduate course on Conflict Resolution at Sciences Po, Paris (2011); is Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University; and is affiliated to the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton, where he was a visiting professor from 2006 to 2008.

In addition, Dr Brahimi is a founding member of the French-language Journal of Palestine Studies, and a board member of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

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