Mary Ruth McDonald

Professor Mary Ruth McDonald is a faculty member in the Department of Plant Agriculture at the University of Guelph, affiliated with the Ontario Agricultural College. Her research focuses on integrated crop management of vegetable crops, particularly root, bulb, leafy vegetables, and crucifers like onions, carrots, lettuce, and cabbage. She leads projects on plant pathology, disease/insect management, and biological control, with emphasis on crucifer crops and specialty crops like hops and amaranth. Her work integrates plant physiology, nutrition, breeding, and entomology to develop sustainable crop protection strategies.

Education: B.Sc. (Agr.) and M.Sc./Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from the University of Guelph.

Research Interests: Biological control of plant diseases, disease forecasting (e.g., Stemphyllium blight), nematode management, and crop nutrition trials. Current projects include clubroot management in canola, biological control of Sclerotinia, and efficacy testing of crop protection materials. She collaborates on molecular diagnostics (e.g., qPCR for Plasmodiophora brassicae) and hosts a diagnostic lab at the Ontario Crops Research Centre–Bradford.

Awards: Outstanding Research Award (2021) and Canadian Society of Agronomy Pest Management Award (2018).

Advising/Grants: While specific student names are not listed, her extensive publications suggest active research supervision. Grants and funding sources are implied through collaborative projects but not explicitly detailed.

Labs/Teams: Leads research at the Ontario Crops Research Centre–Bradford and collaborates with industry partners on efficacy trials. Her work involves multi-disciplinary teams addressing crop protection challenges in Ontario.