Just Accepted
This article has been peer reviewed and accepted for publication. It is in production and has not been edited, so may differ from the final published form.
Where does a female Plant Pathologist work? Gretna Weste (née Parkin) AM DSc.
Abstract
Gretna Weste was a remarkable plant pathologist born to Australian parents in the UK during World War 1. She studied at the University of Melbourne and was employed in the Forests Commission of Victoria as a ‘temporary typist’ while investigating the preservation of timber logs burnt in the 1939 Black Friday bushfires. Weste returned to the School of Botany at The University of Melbourne briefly before raising a family. Once her children reached high school she returned to the School of Botany as a Senior Demonstrator, and enrolled as a PhD student part-time to study the cause of take-all disease of wheat. She was awarded a PhD in 1969. After take-all research was claimed the Faculty of Agriculture in 1970, Gretna’s focus shifted to the newly discovered dieback disease affecting the forests of Western Australia and Victoria. Her research laid the foundations of our understanding of dieback disease, and underpinned the recognition of Phytophthora cinnamomi as a Key Threatening Process under the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (1999). Dr Weste was awarded a DSc in 1983, appointed Member of the Order of Australia in 1989 for her significant service to plant pathology and became an Honorary Member of the Australasian Plant Pathology Society in 1992. Her distinguished career reflects a spirit and resilience that enabled her to overcome, or dodge, a series of gender-based obstacles in research, government and university hierarchies.
HR24008 Accepted 20 May 2024
© Australian Academy of Science 2024
