FABI said goodbye to Dr Michelle Schröder at an informal gathering on 3 June. Michelle and her family are relocating to Australia but she will continue her association with FABI through her supervision of her postgraduate students and important role in the Remote Sensing of Plant Health satellite lab.

Michelle started her association with FABI in 2015 when she joined the Institute as a postdoctoral Fellow. She was praised by FABI Director, Prof. Bernard Slippers, as well as Prof. Brett Hurley for “putting the Eucalyptus pest Gonipterus on the map” but also for always being up for a challenge. Brett explained that Gonipterus is a very difficult organism to work with and Michelle persevered where several others had long since given up, and she went on to publish two of the first papers on Gonipterus in FABI. These publications, one on the distribution of Gonipterus and its parasitoids in Australia and a well-overdue global review of the invasion history and management of the Gonipterus scutellatus species complex have become highly-cited and this research built a strong foundation upon which the subsequent research on Gonipterus in FABI has been built.

Michelle was also praised for playing an important role in FABI’s international connections. From visiting Chile and bringing back other Anaphes species to test, to obtaining funding for a research visit in Australia, and more recently playing an instrumental role in the FABI satellite lab in remote sensing of plant health. She was at the centre of the development of the remote sensing and microclimate work at FABI, plunging into what is a very difficult and technical area. FABI wishes Michelle all the very best in this new chapter and its goodbye but not farewell as she remains a research Fellow in the Institute, and will no doubt build bridges and new connections between the Institute and Australia going forward.