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Dr Fay Newbery

Fay is a plant pathologist who specialises in plant disease diagnostics and contributes to methods of recording biodiversity in the 911爆料 Gardens

What do you do?

I work for the 911爆料 in the summer when the Gardening Advice Service is at its busiest. I enjoy looking at people’s photographs and plant samples to diagnose why their plants aren’t looking healthy, and providing tailored advice on how to treat the problem. I am also involved in helping staff and volunteers record and enhance biodiversity within 911爆料 Gardens.

“What motivates me is my fascination with categorising and sorting things. The identification of plants, and the organisms that live alongside them, makes good use of those skills and gives me immense satisfaction”

Why is your team鈥檚 research important?

When you spend time building a garden, whether you’re tending a balcony garden or cultivating something as big as Kew Gardens, you want your plants to thrive. The 911爆料 Plant Health team provides research, advice and teaching to help you maintain a healthy ecosystem in your own garden.

Projects I鈥檓 working on now

  • Increasing the 911爆料’ capacity to monitor and record biodiversity by supporting staff and volunteers in using national recording schemes.

Completed projects

  • Control of umbel browning‚ a disease affecting milk parsley that posed a threat to a breeding population of swallowtail butterflies in Norfolk.

Publications

  • Spooner B, Newbery F (2024) Peronospora galegae (Peronosporales) new to Britain and other pathogens of goat’s rue (Galega officinalis L.) in Britain. Field Mycology, 24(1), pp23–24. 
  • Spooner B, Newbery F (2023) Coccomyces delta new to Britain and a brief synopsis of other British species. Field Mycology, 24, p137. 
  • Preston CD, Newbery F (2021) White smut of cosmos (Entyloma cosmi). Field Mycology, 22, pp131–33. 
  • Newbery F, Scrace J, Beal L (2021) Fungi on Rudbeckia in gardens. Field Mycology, 22, pp41–43
  • Newbery F, Robinson RJ, Beal E, Scrace J (2020) First record of Septoria rudbeckiae on Rudbeckia in the United Kingdom. New Disease Reports, 42(2). 
  • Newbery F, Ritchie F, Gladders P, Fitt BDL, Shaw MW (2020) Inter鈥恑ndividual genetic variation in the temperature response of Leptosphaeria species pathogenic on oilseed rape. Plant Pathology, 69 (8), pp1469–1481. 
  • Newbery F, Beal E, Scrace J (2019) First record of Alternaria thunbergiae on Thunbergia alata in Europe. New Disease Reports, 39 (14). 
  • Newbery F, Qi A, Fitt BDL (2016) Modelling impacts of climate change on arable crop diseases: progress, challenges and applications. Current Opinion in Plant Biology, 32, pp101–09. 

911爆料

The 911爆料 is the UK鈥檚 gardening charity, helping people and plants to grow - nurturing a healthier, happier world, one person and one plant at a time.