The invitation to present the Daniel McAlpine Lecture to the Biennial Conference of the Australasian Plant Pathology Society is extended to an eminent scientist in recognition of their significant contribution to Australasian Plant Pathology.   

Daniel McAlpines contribution as the father of plant pathology in Australia was to attend to any disease that might form the subject of inquiry - a definition of the role of a plant pathologist which is still relevant. His most notable contributions were to study wheat rust following the 1889 epidemic, to classify and describe Australian smuts, and to recognise Ophiobolus graminis (now Gaeumannomyces graminis) as the cause of wheat take-all. He also collaborated with Farrer on resistance to rust in wheat. It has been written that he did a difficult pioneering job pushing down deeply the roots of plant pathology in his adopted country and preparing the way for Australian plant pathologists of the future (Fish 1976). John Randles (1994)

The lecture commemorates the life and work of Daniel McAlpine and his contribution to the science of plant pathology. He was born in Scotland, and arrived in Australia in 1884 at the age of 35. He had already received considerable training in biology, and became a lecturer at the University of Melbourne. Six years later he became vegetable pathologist in the Department of Agriculture. At the time, plant pathology and plant breeding were facing the challenge of coping with the stem rust epidemics, so McAlpine, together with Farrer became involved. Over the next 26 years McAlpine published 226 papers, a monograph on rusts (1906), and books on the smuts (1910) and on the diseases of citrus (1889), stone fruit (1902), and potatoes (1911).  
Ron Close (1996)

Lectures

Dr Lilian Fraser Diseases of Citrus Trees in Australia - the First Hundred Years
Dr David Griffin Looking Ahead
Mr John Walker Taxonomy, Specimens and Plant Diseases
Prof Richard Matthews Relationships Between Plant Pathology and Molecular Biology
Prof Bob McIntosh and Dr Colin Wellings Wheat Rust Resistance - The Continuing Challenge
Prof Allen Kerr Agrobacterium: pathogen, genetic engineer and biological control agent
Dr Albert Rovira Ecology, epidemiology and control of take-all, Rhizoctonia and c c nematode in wheat
Mr John Walker Plants, diseases and pathologists in Australasia - a personal view
Dr John Randles Plant viruses, viroids and virologists of Australasia
Dr Ron Close The ever-changing challenges of plant pathology
Prof John Irwin Biology and management of Phytophthora spp. attacking field crops in Australia
Dr Dorothy Shaw Bees and fungi, with special reference to certain plant pathogens
Dr Alan Dube Long-term careers in plant pathology
Dr Mike J Wingfield Increasing threat of Diseases to Exotic Plantation Forests in the Southern Hemisphere
Dr Gretna Weste A long and varied fungal foray
Dr Graham Stirling The impact of farming systems on soil biology and soil-borne diseases
Dr Phillip Keane ‘Lessons from the tropics’ An ongoing journey of discovery
Prof Lester Burgess A love affair with Fusarium
Dr Shaun Pennycook Fungal Names in Flux
Prof Giles Hardy From 'then to now' - Phytophthora science and management in Western Australia
Prof Barbara Howlett A ‘genome to paddock’ approach to control plant disease
Prof Eileen Scott Grapevine Powdery Mildew: From Fundamental Plant Pathology to New and Future Vineyard Technologies
Dr Robert Magarey Dirt-boot pathology in an international setting: experiences to learn from and enjoy.
Dr Jennifer Davidson Ascochyta blight of temperate pulses; the undefeated pathogens