Vivian Blok

Molecular Nematologist Vivian Blok, with The James Hutton Institute, serves as a Principal Investigator on the GLOBAL Project.

Dr. Blok’s research focus is on plant parasitic nematodes, particularly the potato cyst nematodes (PCN) with an emphasis on developing improved management tools that are sustainable and environmentally friendly. She works with potato breeders and geneticists to develop breeding material with broad spectrum and durable resistance to PCN and determining the genetic composition and virulence of field populations of PCN to ensure that resistance will be effective in the field. Her work utilizes “state of the art” genomic tools both for the development of potato genotypes with resistance to PCN and for determining the molecular basis of virulence in PCN. Dr. Blok also studies environmental impacts on nematode population dynamics in relation to temperature in order to understand how increasing soil temperatures associated with climate change will impact on the population dynamics of these pests. Dr. Blok works in collaboration with the Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) agency on the development of novel diagnostics for PCN and has been involved in numerous national and international projects funded by the EU, BBSRC, and Royal Society. Dr. Blok studied at the Universities of Waterloo and Saskatchewan and obtained her PhD from the University of Cambridge.