Plant Health Australia (PHA) continues to contribute to strengthening the nation’s biosecurity sector, supporting planning and response initiatives while also mentoring the next generation of researchers, scientists, and biosecurity officers.

Agriculture Victoria (AgVic) recently launched a Where are they now? segment on social media, celebrating many of the now-successful PhD graduates who undertook research and study with supervision from AgVic.

Dr Jo Mackie was one of the featured graduates who studied at La Trobe University.

PHA’s General Manager, Resilience and Innovation, Dr Lucy Tran-Nguyen was Dr Mackie’s co-supervisor for her PhD thesis on Biosecurity strategies to mitigate risk of viruses in vegetable crops – Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus as a model.’

Dr Mackie’s PhD was funded by Hort Innovation, using vegetable industry levies, with co-investment from the Queensland Department of Primary Industries; the Victorian Department of Jobs, Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action; the Northern Territory Department of Agriculture and Fisheries; the Western Australia Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development; and the University of Tasmania.

As a Senior Researcher at Agribio Bundoora, Dr Mackie now manages plant health diagnostics for bacteriology and virology in the department’s Crop Health Services, putting her studies and expertise to good use.

PHA is dedicated to investing additional time and resources into the academic sphere that nurtures the next generation of biosecurity experts. Through a range of initiatives, PHA seeks to foster curiosity and advance knowledge within academia, creating an environment that encourages the development and growth of future biosecurity leaders

Read the social media post.