Person
Park, Robert F.
- Occupation
- Plant pathologist
- Website
- https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9145-5371
Summary
Robert Park is internationally recognised as a leader in research in the pathology and genetics of cereal rust pathogens. Working mainly on wheat and barley, he has focused particularly on the way in which such pathogens evolve and acquire virulence for resistance genes in their hosts. His research group at the Plant Breeding Institute, University of Sydney, played a pivotal role in breeding cereal cultivars with built-in genetic resistance to stem, leaf and stipe rust. It has been estimated that his work in disease resistance has contributed >$1 billion annually to Australia's wheat and barley industries. It was Park's vision which led to the creation of the Australian Cereal Rust Control Program (which includes nodes at the University of Adelaide, CSIRO Plant Industry, and the International Wheat and Maize Improvement Centre in Mexico), the only research program in the world that fully integrates pathology, genetics and pre-breeding. He is active internationally, leading a project to mitigate the effects of stripe rust in wheat production in South Asia and East Africa. Park holds the Judith and David Coffey Chair in Sustainable Agriculture at the University of Sydney
Details
Chronology
- 1984
- Education - PhD, La trobe University
- 1988 - 2010
- Career position - Research Fellow, Plant Breeding Institute, University of Sydney
- 1995
- Award - Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship
- 2009 -
- Career position - Member of the Board, European and Mediterranean Cereal Rusts and Powdery Mildews Foundation
- 2009
- Award - Friendship Award of China
- 2010 -
- Career position - Judith and David Coffey Chair in Sustainable Agriculture, University of Sydney
- 2010
- Award - Fulbright Senior Fellowship, University of Minnesota
- 2012 -
- Career position - Member, Australian Myrtle Rust Scientific Advisory Group
- 2013
- Award - New South Wales Science and Engineering Award for Excellence in Biological Sciences
- 2014
- Award - Clarke Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales
- 2015 -
- Award - Fellow Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering
- 2015 -
- Career position - Vice Chair , Biotic Stress Expert Group for the G20 Wheat Initiative
- 2017 - 2019
- Career position - Vice-President, Australasian Plant Pathology Society
- 2018 -
- Award - Fellow, Royal Society of New South Wales
- 2018
- Award - Poggendorff Lecturer, Royal Society of New South Wales
- 2019 -
- Award - Fellow, Australasian Plant Pathology Society
- 2020
- Award - Eureka Prize for Leadership in Innovation and Science, Australian Museum
- 2024
- Award - National Problem Solver, 2024 Shaping Australia Awards
- 2025
- Award - Farrer Memorial Medal, Farrer Memorial Trust
Related entries
Colleague
Published resources
Journal Articles
- Park, R. F., Burdon, J. J. and McIntosh, R. A., 'Studies on the origin, spread and evolution of an important group of Puccinia recondita f. sp. tritici pathotypes in Australasia', European journal of plant pathology, 101 (1995), 613-22. Details
- Park. R. F., 'Breeding cereals for rust resistance in Australia', Plant pathology, 57 (4) (2008), 591-602, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3059.2008.01836.x. Details
- Pathan, A. and Park, R. F., 'Evaluation of seedling and adult plant resistance to leaf rust in European wheat cultivars', Euphytica, 149 (2006), 327-42. Details
Resources
- Chief Scientist and Engineer, 2013 Category Award Winners: best and brightest recognised at 2013 NSW Science and Engineering Awards, Office of the New South Wales Chief Scientist and Engineer, 2013, https://web.archive.org/web/20140814220417/http:/www.chiefscientist.nsw.gov.au/awards/2013-prize-winners. Details
Helen Cohn
Created: 13 October 2026