Susie Sprague

Dr. Susie Sprague is a Team Leader at CSIRO Agriculture & Food, where she develops sustainable approaches to manage plant diseases in modern farming systems. Her work spans applied research and basic science, focusing on microbiome studies, biological control agents, host resistance, and disease epidemiology.

• Education: BA/BSc (1st Class Hons, 2000) in Chinese language studies and plant ecology from La Trobe University, with study periods at Yunnan University (China) and the University of Texas (USA).
• PhD: University of Melbourne (2003-2006), GRDC-funded research on Blackleg disease in canola.

Her research integrates transcriptomics, machine learning, and plant genetics to address crop diseases like Blackleg in canola and Ascochyta blight of chickpea. She works at the intersection of plant pathology and agronomy to optimize farming practices.

Achievements include advancing dual-purpose canola adoption, delivering $1.6B annual benefits to Australian agriculture. She has secured major GRDC grants for Blackleg epidemiology, phenotyping, and chickpea disease management.