John Clarkson

Biography

On joining WHRI in 1993, John initially worked on forecasting foliar diseases of Brassica and Allium crops. Current research interests involve the general areas of epidemiology, population biology, biological control and microbial interactions in relation to plant pathogens. Recent projects have investigated the integrated control of Allium white rot disease using biological control agents and suppressive composts and the epidemiology and disease forecasting of Sclerotinia disease. A key component which underpins all the research is an understanding of how environmental factors affect the biology of plant pathogens. One of John's current interests is the population biology of plant pathogens in wild and agricultural host plants using Sclerotinia sclerotiorum as a model system.

Research Interest

John teaches on the Advances in Plant Pathology module, a core feature of WHRI's MSc courses and has an interest in e-learning. He is also the webmanager for the British Society for Plant Pathology.