She has published more than 300 peer-reviewed articles. Prof Wingfield is one of the Research Leaders of the Department of Science and Technology (DST)/NRF Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology, past Chairperson of the National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) and previous Vice-Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of PlantBio, one of the national biotechnology innovation centres.

Prof Wingfield was the winner of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry’s Women in Water, Sanitation, and Forestry Research Award in 2007, the DSTs Distinguished Women in Science Award in 2008 and the African Union’s Women in Science Regional (Southern) Award in 2009. Prior to this award, she was recognised four times as an Exceptional Academic Achiever. She was awarded the Chancellor’s Award for Research in 2012.

Her research interests include fungal population genetics and fungal phylogenetics. In addition to her internationally recognised research programme on the molecular phylogeny and taxonomy of tree pathogenic fungi, she is now developing a fungal genomics programme. Prof Wingfield’s research team has recently published their first genomics paper, First fungal genome sequence from Africa: Consequences scientific and regional. Her research team has already sequenced an additional twenty fungal genomes. This veritable “tsunami” of sequence data is contributing significantly to the research which is being accomplished at the University of Pretoria.

The Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences is proud to add Prof Brenda Wingfield’s name to the list of existing A-rated researchers in the Faculty. These researchers are Prof Nigel Bennett, Prof Don Cowan, Prof Robert (Bob) Millar, Prof Brian Rand and Prof Mike Wingfield.