The students and staff of the CPHB and the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP) are involved in various outreach initiatives. These initiatives serve to educate and bring knowledge and information to people whether they are our future scientists or those supporting science in South Africa. The initiatives touch the lives of learners (both primary and high school), students at Higher Education Institutions and also the general public. ![]()
Mentorship programmeThe vision for the CPHB includes a strong mentoring component, which is in part achieved with the CPHB Mentorship programme. In this programme undergraduate students are mentored by postgraduate students in the CPHB / TPCP. For this programme, undergraduate students who have the potential to follow long-term careers in science are specifically targeted. The Mentorship programme has numerous important areas of impact. Firstly, the undergraduate students in the programme are exposed to a strong culture of science in a programme that is internationally competitive. Secondly, by targeting undergraduate students, the Mentorship programme promotes postgraduate studies among its mentees, as well as their peers because they will most probably communicate some of their experiences to their peers. The end result is that the broader student body becomes better informed about what a career in science can offer them. Finally, the mentorship programme is also beneficial to postgraduate students. Having to mentor a student can be an important learning experience and being able to mentor young scientists is an essential element of any career in science or research. National Science Week, ad hoc exhibitions and school visitsThe CPHB student body is actively involved every year in the National Science Week. During this week, the CPHB students spark the enthusiasm of learners for science through the use of interesting, and sometimes outrageous, experiments. Students and staff of the CPHB are also regularly participating in official exhibitions and school visits during which they present their research and inform the public about the different research areas of the programme. (See "Information Nuggets" for more interesting stories) |
Outreach Initiatives
New Publications
Dewing C, Yilmaz N, Steenkamp ET, Wingfield BD, Visagie CM. (2025) Capturing the fungal diversity hidden in Eastern Cape dairy pastures. Mycological Progress 24(1):38.
10.1007/s11557-025-02059-2
Nel WJ, Duong TA, Fell S, Herron DA, Paap T, Wingfield MJ, de Beer ZW, Hulcr J, Johnson AJ. (2025) A checklist of South African bark and ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae, Platypodinae). Zootaxa 5648(1):1-101.
10.11646/zootaxa.5648.1.1
Dewing C, Yilmaz N, Steenkamp ET, Wingfield BD, Visagie CM. (2025) Capturing the fungal diversity hidden in Eastern Cape dairy pastures. Mycological Progress 24:38.
10.1007/s11557-025-02059-2 

Wingfield MJ, Pham NQ, Marincowitz S, Wingfield BD. (2025) Cryphonectriaceae: Biodiverse and threatening tree pathogens in the tropics and southern hemisphere. Annual Review of Phytopathology 63
10.1146/annurev-phyto-121823-030316
Magagula P, Swart V, Fourie A, Vermeulen A, Nelson JH, van Rooyen Z, van den Berg N. (2025) Avocado rhizosphere community profiling: white root rot and its impact on microbial composition. Frontiers in Microbiology 16
10.3389/fmicb.2025.1583797