Dr. Alison Stewart

Dr. Alison Stewart
Chief Executive, Foundation for Arable Research

Biography

Professor Stewart is the newly appointed CEO of the Foundation for Arable Research. She is an applied plant scientist with a 35 year career focused on sustainable disease management. Her research expertise includes: integrated plant disease management, control of soil-borne diseases, biocontrol of plant diseases, microbial ecology, and fungal molecular genetics. In particular, Alison is internationally recognised for her work on the control of plant pathogenic fungi using antagonistic micro-organisms, with special emphasis on the naturally occurring beneficial soil-borne fungus Trichoderma. She has successfully developed and commercialised a number of biopesticide technologies for the horticulture, arable and nursery sectors in New Zealand and the USA. Professor Stewart is a Fellow of the NZ Institute for Agricultural and Horticultural Science and the Australasian Plant Pathology Society and was elected a Companion of the NZ Order of Merit in 2009 in recognition of her services to plant biology.