Participants
Erich-Christian Oerke

Erich-Christian Oerke
Professor of Plant Pathology
Bonn University
Bonn, Germany

Dr. Erich-Christian Oerke, born 1958 in Hameln, Lower Saxony, Germany, has studied biology at the University of Hannover, concentrating on botany, biochemistry and phytopathology (1978 - 1983). In 1988 he received his doctor's degree in biology from the same University, where his dissertation, 'The effect of stress on the predisposition and yield of barley and beans' was under the direction of Prof. Dr. F. Schönbeck. Subsequently, his investigations concentrated on the influence of cultivation methods on the infection/yield loss relationships for biotrophic pathogens (powdery mildew and rusts) and aphids, respectively, and barley. In addition he participated in research on induced resistance with microbial metabolites. In November 1993, he joined the University of Bonn as plant a pathologist. Starting in April 1990, he has prepared the basic chapters on crop losses in eight crops for a study on worldwide crop protection and crop losses published by Elsevier in 1994. Starting in 2000, data on crop losses in 11 crops have been updated and are implemented into the Economic Impact Module of the Crop Protection Compendium published by CAB International. His experimental research focuses on in the damaging function of biotrophic pathogens on cereals and their variability influenced by the environment as well as in the infection process of phytopathogenic fungi.