Industry Centre Manager

Dr Sandra J. McDougall

Industry Leader (Field Vegetables)
Tel.: (02) 6951 2728 Mob.: 0427 401 466
E-mail: sandra.mcdougall@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Sandra McDougall is the Technical Specialist (Vegetables) at the National Vegetable Industry Centre. Employed by NSW Agriculture* as an entomologist in March 1997, she has maintained an active Integrated Pest Management research program.

Her primary focus has been initially in developing crop monitoring protocols, registration of ‘soft’ pesticides and resistance management strategies for Helicoverpa armigera in sweet corn, processing tomatoes and lettuce. And with some biological and ‘soft’ pesticides now being registered her work is focusing more on encouraging beneficial insects and insect pathogens. In addition, she is developing extension materials and training workshops for growers and consultants. In her role of Technical Specialist, Sandra acts as the team coordinator.

BSc (Hons 1) ANU
PhD (Entomology- Biological control) University of California at Berkeley

*NSW Department of Primary Industries was formed on July 1, 2004 through an amalgamation of NSW Agriculture, NSW Fisheries, State Forests of NSW and the NSW Department of Mineral Resources.

Research Staff

Dr Donald Irving

Research Scientist
Tel.: (02) 6951 2523
E-mail: donald.irving@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Donald Irving has worked as a Research Scientist at the National Vegetable Industry Centre, Yanco since 2008. Prior to this appointment he taught horticulture postharvest physiology and technology for 9 years at the University of Queensland Gatton, and researched disease resistance in fruit and ornamental crops.

A current HAL-funded project involves beetroot stand management and cultivar assessment in response to climatic temperature influence.

Dr Jianhua Mo

Research Entomologist (Horticulture Research)
Tel.: (02) 6951 2537
E-mail: jianhua.mo@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Jianhua Mo has worked as a Research Entomologist at the National Vegetable Industry Centre, Yanco since 2000. Jianhua’s responsibilities include management of vegetable (50%) and citrus (50%) pest insects. Currently he is working on the IPM of Helicoverpa species in sweet corn and IPM of spined citrus bug in citrus.

Previous experiences include ecology and management of forest insects (interactions among egg parasitoids, effects of insect damage on tree growth, population dynamics, and sampling techniques), biological control of weeds (establishment and distribution of bio-control agents), modelling of tree dieback, and more recently IPM of diamondback moth in Brassica vegetables (local dispersal, monitoring, and evaluation of insecticides).

Andrew Watson

Plant Pathologist (Vegetables)
Tel.: (02) 6951 2647
E-mail: andrew.watson@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Andrew Watson has worked as a Plant Pathologist at the National Vegetable Industry Centre, Yanco since 1998. He has been working in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Areas since joining NSW Agriculture in 1983. Andrew has worked on crops such as rice, wheat, prunes, canola, faba beans peaches and grapes. His main areas of interest in plant pathology are integrated disease management options, reducing fungicides in cropping systems and plant disease diagnostics.

He has been involved recently an IPM lettuce project and common scab of potatoes. He has also been undertaking bioactivity measurements in organic farming systems. He also has a diagnostic role servicing the Plant Health Diagnostic Service.

Extension Staff

Tony Napier

District Horticulturist (Vegetables)
Ph: (02) 6951 2796 Mob.: 0427 201 839
E-mail: tony.napier@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Tony Napier has worked as an extension horticulturist at the National Vegetable Industry Centre, Yanco since 1999. Tony previously worked with the Department of Agriculture on a number of projects including Rice research and Lucerne breeding.

Current projects include integrated pest management of Lettuce and Sweet corn. The main areas of focus have been helping evaluate biological options for heliothis control, spray application techniques and variety evaluation of lettuce. Tony edits the National Vegetable Industry Centre regular newsletters, which include "Vegie Bites" and "Lettuce Leaf".

David Troldahl

District Horticulturist (Vegetables), Yanco
Tel.: (02) 6951 2546, Mob.: 0447 276997
Email: david.troldahl@dpi.nsw.gov.au

David started as District Horticulturist, Vegetables, at Yanco in February 2009. Prior to this appointment he worked at Yanco for 20 years as a technical officer in plant breeding. He has an excellent knowledge of the Riverina area and its different agricultural industries.

David has begun working closely with the Riverina vegetable industry to help further develop what is already the largest vegetable growing area in NSW. He has started work on projects to help vegetable growers improve their irrigation practices and business management.

Technical and Support Staff

Alan Boulton

Technical Officer (Vegetables)
Ph: (02) 6951 2527
E-mail: alan.boulton@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Alan Boulton has worked as a Technical Officer at the National Vegetable Industry Centre, Yanco since 1996, and as such has provided technical support for experiments on a wide range of vegetable commodities and management practices. He is responsible for managing the YAI vegetable research block and field trials in general, he also manages laboratory work mainly focusing on nutritional analysis and variety evaluation. And also provides statistical and computer support for the research group, and is currently contributing to the construction of this web page.

BSc.; Monash University.

Meryl Snudden

Technical Assistant (Pathology)
Ph: (02) 6951 2646
E-mail: meryl.snudden@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Meryl Snudden has worked as a Technical Assistant at the National Vegetable Industry Centre, Yanco since 1996. Meryl provides technical support for the National Vegetable Industry Centre. She assists the plant pathology section with laboratory support such as making media for plating out of diseased plant material. She also has a role with the group by assisting with harvesting of trials, monitoring entomology trials for predatory and beneficial insects and undertaking laboratory work for tomato assessments.