Bärbel GEROWITT

Bärbel Gerowitt is Professor for Crop Health at the University of Rostock in Germany since 2004. She is specialised in weed research and interdisciplinary concepts to evaluate plant health strategies in arable crops. In Rostock, she teaches all aspects of plant health and plant protection in arable crops. In her research, she focuses the relationship between agrobiodiversity and healthy crops. Both planned and unplanned agrobiodiversity is investigated. Within unplanned agrobiodiversity weeds receive the major interest. Experiments on population dynamics and on the influence of cropping practices on weeds are carried out to develop and support integrated weed management concepts as well as land use concepts to enhance biodiversity. On-farm research and transdisciplinary projects are undertaken to further integrate biodiversity goals into farming practice. Imbedding research on plant protection strategies into a landscape context completes the focus.

These issues fit well into the IOBC working group “Landscape management for functional biodiversity”, she is co-convenor of the group. She is member of the IOBC-commission on Integrated Production. Currently (2016/2017) she is President of the European Weed Research Society. In Germany, she is chairperson of the Advisory Board on The National Action Plan to reduce the Reliance on Pesticides (NAP).