Brenda Wingfield

Brenda D. Wingfield is a South African Professor of genetics and previous Deputy Dean of the University of Pretoria. She is known for her genetic studies of fungal tree pathogens.

Brenda Wingfield
Born
Brenda D. Fairbairn
Alma materUniversity of Cape Town
University of Minnesota
Stellenbosch University
SpouseMike Wingfield
AwardsChristiaan Hendrik Persoon medal
Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship Award
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Pretoria

Biography

Brenda D. Fairbairn[1] was born in Zambia and educated in Zimbabwe.[2] In High School, she found that she enjoyed genetics and went on to study at the University of Natal.[3] She graduated with B.Sc.Hons Med from the University of Cape Town, Master's degree from the University of Minnesota[4] and PhD from the University of Stellenbosch (1989).[5] In the late 1990s, she began to work at the University of Pretoria.[2] She was one of the founding members of the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute.[3]

She has published over 400 articles on genetics and trained over 50 both Masters and PhD students respectively.[4] Wingfield holds the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) Chair in Fungal Genomics.[2]

Research

Wingfield's work centers on fungi that act as tree pathogens.[6] In conjunction with her research, she works with the South African forestry industry.[3]

In 1995 Wingfield studied various species of Armillaria, especially A. cepistipes, A. gallica, A. mellea, and A. tabescens in Europe and North America.[7] In 2004 she along with Michael Wingfield, Pedro Crous and Irene Barnes studied variations of D. septosporum and D. pini and concluded her research on a fact that D. pini is different to D. septosporum.[8] In April of the same year she studied introduction of L. wingfieldii fungi into North America and how it is consumed by various bark beetles such as T. piniperda, D. valens and I. pini.[9] In 2010, she worked as the lead researcher on the team for the first African project working to map the full genome of a fungus that causes pine pitch canker.[10]

Awards

Wingfield was a recipient of the Christiaan Hendrik Persoon medal for her scientific achievements from the Southern African Society for Plant Pathology.[11] She was also the first woman to receive that honor.[12] In 2013, she received an A rating from the National Research Foundation (NRF).[2] She was recognized for her research work by the National Science and Technology Forum in 2014.[13] In 2016 an Oppenheimer Memorial Trust has awarded her with an Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship Award.[14] She was awarded an honorary membership of the Mycological Society of America (MSA) in 2017, she is also a Fellow of the American Phytopathological Society.[12]

References
  1. "Michael J. Wingfield". Michael J. Wingfield. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  2. Butler-Adam, John (26 July 2016). "Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship Awards, 2016". South African Journal of Science. 112 (7/8): 2. doi:10.17159/sajs.2016/a0164. ISSN 0038-2353.
  3. Grant-Marshall, Sue (1 July 2016). "Winning Women: A passion for trees". CityPress. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  4. "Professor Brenda Wingfield". University of Pretoria. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  5. "Professor Brenda Wingfield". African Centre for Gene Technologies. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  6. "2015 – Brenda Wingfield". The Oppenheimer Memorial Trust. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  7. T. C. Harrington and B. D. Wingfield (1995). "A PCR-Based Identification Method for Species of Armillaria". Mycologia. 87 (2): 280–288. doi:10.1080/00275514.1995.12026531. JSTOR 3760915.
  8. Irene Barnes; Pedro W Crous; Brenda D Wingfield; Michael J Wingfield (2004). "Multigene phylogenies reveal that red band needle blight of Pinus is caused by two distinct species of Dothistroma, D. septosporum and D. pini". Studies in Mycology. 50 (2): 551–565.
  9. Karin Jacobs; Dale R. Bergdahl; Michael J. Wingfield; Shari Halik; Keith A. Seifert; Donald E. Bright; Brenda D. Wingfield (April 2004). "Leptographium wingfieldii introduced into North America and found associated with exotic Tomicus piniperda and native bark beetles". Mycological Research. 108 (4): 411–418. doi:10.1017/S0953756204009748. PMID 15209281.
  10. Duvenage, Engela (10 July 2014). "A life dedicated to fungi - and academics". SciBraai. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  11. "Brenda Wingfield". The Conversation. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  12. "Two more international accolades for Prof Brenda Wingfield". University of Pretoria. 2 August 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  13. "Prof Brenda Wingfield wins NSTF award". Forestry South Africa. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  14. "Brenda Wingfield receives the Harry Oppenheimer Memorial Fellowship award". FABI. Retrieved 29 March 2017.

Elsabe Olivier, Prof Brenda Wingfield supports Open Access at the University of Pretoria

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