FABIans Prof. Brett Hurley and Innocent Rakubu attended a congress in Spain to celebrate a century of the discovery of Steinernema kraussei Steiner.

Two FABI researchers returned to central Vietnam to collect material from trees infested by PSHB with the objective of finding, identifying, rearing and testing natural enemies.

FABI’s Prof. Brett Hurley and Dr Mesfin Gossa and FAO’s Dr Shiroma Sathyapala and Natalia Cano organised a FISNA-hosted webinar titled “Forest Health & Wildlife: behaviour and effect of forest-damaging mammals”.

Prof. Brett Hurley and Dr Mesfin Gossa attended and were co-organisers of a recent FISNA workshop in Kenya.

Professor Brett Hurley presented his inaugural address marking his promotion to full Professorship on Tuesday 26 September.

Four FABians attended the recent IUFRO "Novel and classical strategies to manage forest health in plantations" meeting in Brazil.

Three FABI researchers visited Vietnam to collect material from trees infested by PSHB with the objective of finding, identifying, rearing and testing natural enemies.

Members of the TPCP recently visited Portucel Mozambique's forestry operations to assess the extent and diversity of pest and disease issues first hand.

ABI, in collaboration with the Forest Invasive Species Network for Africa (FISNA), co-hosted a webinar on forest invasive species in Africa on 14 March.

FABI has partnered with the University of the Sunshine Coast and ICFR to develop a research project to determine the diversity and distribution of wattle pests and pathogens in the Awi Zone of Ethiopia, and investigate potential management options.

A team from FABI visited various sites in the greater Durban area to scout for native natural enemies of the PSHB that can be used in a biological control programme

Professor Brett Hurley has been appointed as a Research Associate of the Institute for Commercial Forestry Research (ICFR) strengthening the long and close association between the Institute, especially with the ICFR’s Dr Ilaria Germishuizen, and the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme in FABI.

FABI founding Director and Immediate Past President IUFRO, Prof. Mike Wingfield along with Prof. Brett Hurley were invited to present in a FAO webinar covering the topic “Forest invasive species - the next global pandemic?” on 29 July.

In January 2020, Prof. Brett Hurley and Dr Nicolas Kagimu visited Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.

From 3-5 November, participants from Government research institutes and universities gathered at the University of Pretoria’s Future Africa Campus, for a Forest Invasive Species Network for Africa (FISNA) workshop on the implementation of classical biological control to manage insect pests in plantation forests.

The IUFRO Working Party 7.03.13 meeting on the ‘Biological Control of Forest Insect Pests and Pathogens’ was hosted by FABI from 5-8 November.

The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has published a “Guide to the classical biological control of insect pests in planted and natural forests”. The guide includes information on the processes leading to classical biological control (CBC), the implementation of CBC and post-release monitoring and evaluation of CBC agents.  

Professor Brett Hurley of FABI was invited to participate and present in one of the side events organised during the COFO 24 session, titled “Towards a harmonized global approach for managing forest invasive species”.

The inaugural meeting of IUFRO Working Group 7. FABI presentations: Hurley B. Fraser S. Hurley B. (Photos supplied by the organisers of IUFRO Working Group 7.

FABI congratulates and celebrates with two researchers who have reached remarkable milestones in their careers! Prof. Prof.

FABI researcher Dr Brett Hurley recently visited Rwanda, as part of a project funded by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

Drs Brett Hurley and Michelle Schröder attended the 5th International Symposium on Biological Control of Arthropods (ISBCA), held in Langkawi, Malaysia from 11-15 September. The session topics included aspects of accidental introduction of biocontrol agents, pre- and post-release genetics, Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) policy, and successes and uptake of biocontrol in developing countries. Presentations from FABI included: Dr Brett Hurley – Investigating the complex gall community of Leptocybe invasa. Dr Michelle Schröder – Biological control of the Gonipterus scutellatus species complex: testing the species, climatic and phonological mismatch hypotheses In addition, a poster was submitted by Samantha Bush, titled ‘Host specificity testing of Psyllaephagus bliteus, an accepted biocontrol agent of Glycaspis brimblecombei, reveals a new host. Samantha’s poster, which was from her MSc work, won the Best Poster Award – congratulations Samantha!