Dr Sze Peng Flett is a Principal

Scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

and the interim Director for the

Horticulture Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

Centre of Excellence in the

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Department of Environment and Primary Industries The Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI) was a state government department responsible for protecting the environment, boosting productivity in Victoria's food and fibre sector, management of natural resources and managing wate ...

Early life and education

Flett was born in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. She completed the Victorian Higher School Certificate at

Taylor's College Taylor's College is an independent college in Malaysia that offers a pre-university programme leading to the Cambridge International GCE A-Level examination. Established in 1969, it has consistently ranked among the top Cambridge A-Level colle ...

, Kuala Lumpur. In 1976, she commenced undergraduate studies at

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...

Bundoora Bundoora is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Banyule, Darebin and Whittlesea local government areas. Bundoora recorded a population of 28,068 at the ...

and received a B Agri Sci (Hons). In 1992, she completed her PhD in "The Control of Root Rot in Processing

Tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...

es" with La Trobe University. She was also awarded the Executive Masters in

Public Administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

(ANZSOG) with

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

in 2007.

Awards

* The Howard Memorial Trust Travel Award (1994) * Victorian Government Continuous Improvement Network Award (2007)

Career

Flett started her career at DEPI in 1980 at the Plant Research Institute, Burnley as a technical assistant in the General Pathology Laboratory in 1980. She moved to the Department of Environment and Primary Industries at

Tatura Tatura is a town in the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria, Australia, and is situated within the City of Greater Shepparton local government area, north of the state capital (Melbourne) and west of the regional centre of Shepparton, Victoria ...

in 1981 and commenced as a

plant pathologist Plant pathology or phytopathology is the scientific study of plant diseases caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Plant pathology involves the study of pathogen identification, disease ...

working on a mysterious root rot in subterranean clover, an important annual

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...

feedbase for

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

and

dairy cows Dairy cattle (also called dairy cows) are cattle bred with the ability to produce large quantities of milk, from which dairy products are made. Dairy cattle generally are of the species '' Bos taurus''. Historically, little distinction was ...

. She was part of the research team that discovered a new species of Phytopthora – Phytophthora clandestina. She led the screening of subterranean clover varieties from the wool industry's breeding program for Phytophthora clandestina germplasm and discovered that there were different strains of P clandestina which resulted variability in varietal tolerances. Flett has led multi-disciplinary teams and conducted research in plant diseases: Phytophthora root rot in processing tomatoes and

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

s, trunk cankers and root rot in stone and

pome In botany, a pome is a type of fruit produced by flowering plants in the subtribe Malinae of the family Rosaceae. Pome fruits consist of a central "core" containing multiple small seeds, which is enveloped by a tough membrane and surrounded by a ...

fruits and

powdery scab Powdery scab is a disease of potato tubers. It is caused by the cercozoan ''Spongospora subterranea'' f. sp. ''subterranea'' and is widespread in potato growing countries. Symptoms of powdery scab include small lesions in the early stages of the ...

in processing

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

es. In 2002, she took a turn in her career and contributed to the development of the Victorian Biotechnology and commenced a role as Partnership Manager for the

Catchment A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, th ...

Management Authorities. In 2003, she was responsible for a portfolio of land and water services programs in the former Farm Services Division of DEPI. In 2008, Flett was appointed as the Director of the Arthur Rylah Institute, leading the delivery and management of environmental research at DEPI's

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

site. In this role, she focused on science excellence, leadership and quality and led the modernisation of the ARI facilities, housing state of the art research

aquarium An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

s and laboratories. In 2012, Flett was appointed as the Director for Horticulture Services in DEPI and most recently, the interim Director of the Horticulture Centre of Excellence at Tatura.

Works

* Developing safe foliar spraying of phosphonic acid to control

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and Agriculture, cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called necta ...

and

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

phytophthora ''Phytophthora'' (from Greek (''phytón''), "plant" and (), "destruction"; "the plant-destroyer") is a genus of plant-damaging oomycetes (water molds), whose member species cause economic losses on crops worldwide, as well as environmental dam ...

. With Tom Lim. 1996.Sze
WorldCat Identities. * Control of stem rot and tree dieback caused by silverleaf and

trametes ''Trametes'' is a genus of fungi that is distinguished by a pileate basidiocarp, di- to trimitic hyphal systems, smooth non-dextrinoid spores, and a hymenium usually without true hymenial cystidia.Ryvarden L. (1991). "Genera of polypores: Nomenc ...

in peaches and apples. With Peter H Jerie. 1998. * Phytophthora root rot of tomatoes. With Bill Ashcroft. 1997. * Identifying the IPM needs of the fresh market tomato industry in Northern Victoria. 2003 * Control of Phytophthora with phosphorus acid. 1998.Flett, Sze, Dawson, Joann
Control of Phytophthora with Phosphorus Acid (1998)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flett, Sze Australian women scientists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Kuala Lumpur Malaysian people of Chinese descent University of Melbourne alumni