Meet Crop Protection team leader - Helen Spafford
The Grains Crop Protection team has a new manager. Dr Helen Spafford is originally from Adelaide but moved to the USA when she was 14. Helen has a PhD in Biology (from Utah State University) and over 20 years of experience as an applied entomologist, working in broadacre and horticulture crops in temperate and sub-tropical environments.
Prior to joining DPIRD in December 2019, Helen was an Associate Professor at the University of Hawaii Manoa and The University of Western Australia. Helen has experience researching pest management in a variety of commodities and has studied insect biology and behaviour, biological, chemical, and cultural control. Her most recent projects have been investigating management approaches for fall armyworm, American serpentine leafminer, and cluster caterpillar. She is currently also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Western Australia in the Institute of Agriculture and co-advising a PhD student at the University of Queensland.
While working for DPIRD, Helen has led the Insect and Disease Management team in Horticulture and Irrigated Agriculture and lived in Kununurra. She then led the newly established Preparedness and Response team in Plant Biosecurity where she was initially based in Perth and assisted on several incidents. Her new role as lead of the Grains Crop Protection Team began in September 2023 and she is based in the Bunbury office.
Helen and her husband live in Busselton where they enjoy spending time at the beach. When Helen isn’t busy with some home renovation project, she tries to work on her novel and befriending the family cat who doesn’t seem to like her much.