I am the current Principal Investigator of the McLab Field Pathology and Epidemiology Group at the University of the Free State. For information about our group projects, graduate research, disease resources, publications, and research outputs, please visit the McLab website.
This personal site is a space where I share my academic identity, teaching and mentorship philosophy, reflections on field pathology and epidemiology, engaged scholarship, leadership contributions, and the broader work that shapes my role as an academic.
The name LandbouLisa carries a little piece of my story. I was an English-speaking girl from KwaZulu-Natal with a dream of coming to the Free State (predominantly Afrikaans and Sotho province) and living in Emily Hobhouse residence (evidence of my <3 of history) at the University of the Free State. At the time, I did not know that UFS would become much more than the place where I studied. It would become my academic home, the place where I met my husband, and eventually, the university where I would serve as a Senior Lecturer. To my parents’ surprise, their first-year BSc “city girl” soon asked to change direction and study BSc Agric. That decision shaped much of who I became.
I study plant diseases under field conditions through disease surveillance, diagnostics, disease assessment, and the application of epidemiological thinking. My work supports crop protection research by generating evidence on disease management strategies, including fungicide efficacy trials for registration purposes and practical field use.
I teach and mentor students and researchers in plant pathology and epidemiology, focusing on developing scientific thinking, field awareness, and research confidence.
I work with agricultural partners to connect scientific evidence with practical disease management, producer needs, and crop health decision-making.
I contribute to extension and engaged scholarship by sharing plant disease knowledge with producers, industry partners, students, and agricultural communities.
About | Read more about my academic identity, background, and the values that shape how I work.
Research | Explore the broader themes that guide my research in field pathology, epidemiology, disease management, and engaged scholarship. Group projects and outputs are hosted on the McLab website.
Teaching | Learn more about my teaching approach, supervision philosophy, and interest in helping students think, reason, and communicate as plant pathologists.
Teaching as Inquiry | Reflections on how I am learning about teaching through practice, student learning, feedback, experimentation, and evidence-informed approaches.
Learning | A space for thoughts along the way, shaped by what I continue to learn from colleagues, students, farmers, extension officers, mentors, and shared academic spaces.
Resources Worth Sharing | Links, tools, books, videos, frameworks, and resources I have found useful, returned to, used for a season, or simply thought worth sharing.