Centre for Crop and Disease Management

In the lead up to #IWD2026, we’re highlighting Associate Professor Julia Easton 👩‍🔬🌾
Julia drives innovation at CCDM—building partnerships, leading demand‑driven research, and turning data‑focused research into real impact for Australian agriculture. 🌱💡

@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

In the lead up to #IWD2026, we’re celebrating women in research at CCDM.
Meet Elyce Iagallo, whose work on yellow spot disease in wheat is helping support the development of more resilient crops.

@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

🌟 #IWD2026 Spotlight: Dr Sarita Bennett 🌟
From her PhD in Birmingham to leading ag research in WA, Sarita now serves as ACDiA President and Interim Deputy Head of School at Curtin.

@curtinuniversity.bsky.social #GRDC

🌱 CCDM researchers have mapped how the fungicide fluxapyroxad moves through barley with cm‑level precision.

Recently published, “Foliar Distribution of Seed‑Applied Fluxapyroxad in Barley,” shows older leaves accumulate the most.

📄 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
@curtinuniversity #GRDC

In the lead-up to #IWD2026, we’re recognising Jiaping Du!
Jiaping has strong GCMS/LCMS skills, and both a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Agricultural Science, she brings a passion for sustainable agriculture and innovative research to CCDM.
@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

NEW PUBLICATION from CCDM!
Our team has uncovered a WA soil microbiome that naturally suppresses Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.
Read here 🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@curtinuniversity.bsky.social , #GRDC

Make sure to add this week's CCDM talk to your calendar 📆 If you're on #CurtinUni campus Friday 27 at 12pm, come hear from CCDM’s Rachael Crockett as she explores From PPE to petals: Rethinking insect control in research environments 🪲🌸

Updated!🌾
We’ve refreshed our data on Australian wheat sensitivities to key necrotrophic effectors.
Growers, advisers & researchers can explore the latest info here:
👉 www.ccdm.com.au/necrotrophic...
@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

Day 2 at #GRDCUpdates 2026 Perth ✅

Great to hear Jordi Muria-Gonzalez present on how fungicides move inside plants and to connect with growers, industry and research partners over the past two days. 🌾

Thanks to GRDC for a fantastic event!

@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

Had the pleasure of hosting Dr Giovana Cruppe & @theGRDC visiting fellow Prof Romulo Lollato from KSU at the @theccdm.bsky.social today. Excellent presos on wheat blast and agronomy! 🔥🔥🔥

Day 1 at GRDC Perth Updates 2026!

Strong presence from CCDM, with Mark Gibberd chairing “CCDM in the Spotlight.”

Great talks from our PhD students, plus presentations by Nola D’Souza (AFRN) and Liz Czislowski (nanoparticle solutions).

#GRDC, @curtinuniversity.bsky.social

Great to host Prof. Romulo Lollato and Dr. Giovana Cruppe from Kansas State University at CCDM today.
Romulo presented “Magnitudes and causes for wheat yield gaps in North America” and Giovana shared “Meet the Cereal Killer: an overview of Wheat Blast.”
@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

Great to see CCDM’s sclerotinia stem rot team preparing resistant material for this year’s experiments 🌱🧪
@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

🎫 #GRDCUpdates Perth 2026 are right around the corner!
Catch Jordi Muria‑Gonzalez presenting “Understanding how fungicides move inside plants.”
📅 Tue 17 Feb | 🕑 11:45am
📍 Session 18 – Crop Management
Register now 👉 buff.ly/kREkfa9

#GRDC, @curtinuniversity.bsky.social

Getting some B-roll filming done by the @theccdm.bsky.social comms crew for our next sciency press release 😎🤘

🎓 Celebrating CCDM graduations! Congratulations to PhD graduates Shota Morikawa and Johannes Debler, and Honours graduate Ciara Gifford. Your research, innovation and commitment are strengthening grains science.

@curtinuniversity.bsky.social #GRDC

🔬🌾 Happy International Day of Women & Girls in Science! 👩🔬🎉 At CCDM, we’re proud of the incredible women in our centre working to lessen the impact of disease in the Australian grains industry! 👩🌾💡 Here’s to empowering women in ag science today & every day! 🚀
@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

Happy World Pulses Day! 🌾✨
Pulses like chickpeas, lentils & beans are small but mighty—boosting global food security! 🫘💚 We’re tackling diseases like ascochyta blight to protect these vital crops for future generations. 🔗https://buff.ly/4huDmLA
#GRDC, @curtinuniversity.bsky.social

Proud @theccdm.bsky.social moment! Our PHD student Shota Morikawa earned his stripes! @callumverdonk.bsky.social

🎫 #GRDCUpdates Perth 2026 are right around the corner!
Catch Liz Czislowski presenting..
"Nanoscale solutions to a really big problem: a nanoparticle-based approach to to fighting fungal pathogens"
📅 Mon 16 Feb | 🕑 2:15pm
📍 Session 8 – The Future of Agriculture
Register now 👉 buff.ly/kREkfa9

Make sure to add this week's CCDM talk to your calendar 📆 If you're on #CurtinUni campus Friday 13, come hear from Kansas State University’s Romulo Pisa Lollato as he explores Magnitudes and causes for wheat yield gaps in North America🌾

🌾 Student Spotlight
Meet Grace Foley — a PhD researcher uncovering the effectors behind septoria avenae blotch (SAB) in oats.

WAARC‑supported, she’s investigating necrotrophic effectors in Parastagonospora avenae to help breed SAB‑resistant oat varieties.

@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

Make sure to add this week's CCDM talk to your calendar 📆 If you're on #CurtinUni campus 12pm Friday 13, come hear from Kansas State University’s Giovana Cruppe as she explores Meet the cereal killer: an overview of wheat blast 🌾

🌾 2026 GRDC Grains Research Updates are nearly here!
Proud to have Mark Gibberd chairing “CCDM in the Spotlight” with our students presenting their latest research.
📅 Mon 16 Feb | 🕐 11:30am
📍 Session 4 – Disease
👉 Register here: buff.ly/kREkfa9

@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

🎫 The #GRDCUpdates Perth 2026 are right around the corner!
Catch Nola D'Souza presenting on The Australian Fungicide Resistance Extension Network.
📅 Mon 16 Feb | 🕑 12:10pm | 📍Session 4 Disease
👉 Register here: buff.ly/kREkfa9

@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

🌾 We’re now on Instagram! 🌾
CCDM is excited to join Instagram — your new go‑to spot for updates on crop disease research, field day highlights, and the breakthroughs helping Australian growers stay ahead of disease challenges

📍 Follow us at: @the_CCDM

@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

🌾 Student Spotlight 🌾
Meet Jade Davis, a PhD student investigating why net form net blotch (NFNB) is evolving so rapidly in WA barley. Her research explores how host genotype and alternative splicing may drive this shift. Supported by Curtin RTP & GRDC.

#GRDC, @curtinuniversity.bsky.social

🌟 CCDM at the Discover Expo! 🌟
Our scientists — Elizabeth Czislowski, Fatima Naim & Irina Kuznetsova — ran hands‑on STEM fun for Year 8/9 students.
🧬 Extracting strawberry DNA
Such an awesome day of curiosity & science! 💚✨

@curtinuniversity.bsky.social ,#GRDC

Shareable DataHarvest to extend the value of research findings Upskilling GRDC’s partners in research data management through the DataHarvest project is boosting the quality, quantity and usability of research data

Strong research relies on strong data. This article highlights why making data more accessible and shareable is an important step forward for the grains industry — something CCDM proudly supports.
👉 groundcover.grdc.com.au/innovation/i...

@curtinuniversity.bsky.social, #GRDC

Gene-Edited Sclerotinia Resistant Canola by 2029 Cibus is field testing gene-edited sclerotinia-resistant canola, aiming for market availability by 2029 to help growers combat yield losses.

Easing back into things with a scan of the global status of commercial #sclerotinia resistance in #canola. Happy to be reminded of the pioneering work of Cibus who are tackling this complex, polygenic trait with high throughput gene editing (www.producer.com/news/company...). 2029 is not far away!