Netsanet Bacha Hei is a breeder-pathologist at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, stationed at Ambo Agricultural Research Centre. She is responsible for conducting research on development of new wheat varieties. She works with the wheat pathology team to monitor the spread and change in the virulence pattern of wheat rusts and provide essential information to determine the gene combinations to be considered by the national and international wheat breeding programmes. She is also responsible for sharing the coordinated surveillance information and  advising the Ministry of Agriculture in order to prepare for potential wheat rust outbreaks and to enable them to take action to avoid crop losses.