As part of their sabbatical research in the USA, FABI Professors Mike and Brenda Wingfield were joined by team members Dr Janneke Aylward and Dr Nam Pham to observe and sample Seiridium canker on Monterey Cypress (Hesperocyparis macrocarpa (Cupressus macrocarpa)) trees. This work forms part of a collaboration with Prof. Matteo Garbelotto (University of California, Berkeley) and his PhD student Eduardo Scali. The FABI project, led by Dr Janneke Aylward, has various components centered on Seiridium canker in South Africa and other southern hemisphere countries where Seridium species cause disease on Cupressus species. Questions including the relative pathogenicity of the species on planted (and in South Africa, native) Cupressaceae and their pathways of global movement.