BScAgric (Stellenbosch), MScAgric (Stellenbosch), PhD (CSU)
Gerhard completed his undergraduate and masters degrees in Viticulture at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. He then worked in the wine industry for four and a half years, gaining experience in vineyard management and winemaking in South Africa, Australia, California and New Zealand.
Gerhard enrolled in a PhD at CSU in 2013, studying the implications of water availability and source-sink biomass ratios on carbohydrate and nitrogen utilisation in grapevines. After completion of his PhD, he worked as an Associate lecturer in Viticulture and Wine Sciences for 18 months at CSU, whilst also conducting research to assess the impacts of herbicide drift on grapevine vegetative and reproductive development. Gerhard then spent the next two years evaluating and demonstrating new mildew resistant grapevine varieties with CSIRO in Adelaide, before returning to CSU as a Lecturer in Viticulture in April 2020.