Hanna Friberg

My research lies within the fields of plant pathology and sustainable crop protection. This is closely connected to my work in environmental monitoring of soil organisms and soil health, as well as my teaching. As most of the questions I work with are interdisciplinary, collaborations with scientists from other fields, as well as industrial collaborations, are crucial for my work.

My research focuses on the ecology of fungal plant pathogens. A key theme in much of my work is diversity: the effects of (1) the diversity of organisms influencing pathogens or diseases and (2) diversity in our cropping systems. My long-term goal is for my research to improve the development of sustainable crop protection strategies and the design of cropping systems. Interdisciplinary approaches are central to my way of working in this respect. Motivated by a desire to better understand and describe the communities and interactions that influence disease development, I am also interested in developing and refining analytical tools used in research and by industry.

Soil organisms are essential for long-term sustainability and productivity in agricultural ecosystems, as they play a vital role by providing ecosystem services of importance for functions such as nutrient cycling, disease suppression and soil structure improvement. From 2026, SLU is responsible for a new monitoring programme of agricultural soils in Sweden, involving a broad range of experts from different scientific disciplines. I am coordinating the work and development of this new programme, in close collaboration with colleagues from other departments at SLU. 

Teaching is an important part of my work. I am assistant director of studies for Agriculture Programme - Soil and Plant Sciences (5-year programme), the Bachelor programme on Plant production, the Master programme Soil, Water and Environment, and SLU:s preparatory semester in natural sciences. I am teaching at several courses for agronomy students, and am the course leader for Crop production – weeds, pests and diseases. Every year, I am supervising Bachelor and Master thesis students within the subject plant pathology.

• EcoStack (2018-2024) developed ecologically, economically and socially sustainable crop production via stacking of biodiversity service providers and bio-inspired tools, using transdisciplinary research methods and active participation of multi-actor groups across Europe. The project was a Research and Innovation Action, under the EU Horizon 2020 programme, and included 24 partners with complementary expertise, covering all major pedoclimatic production zones and major agricultural production systems in Europe. Read more about the project here: https://ecostack-h2020.eu/
• What does different actors mean by sustainable crop protection, and how can we find useful indicators of sustainability? This was explored in two assignments by the Swedish Crop Protection Council. The results are presented here (in Swedish, summary in English): 
  https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/26843/1/lundin_o_et_al_220127.pdf
  https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/31217/1/friberg-h-et-al-20230705.pdf