Following discussions on the way forward for FABI in 2020, the Tree protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP) management committee members briefed students and staff at the University of Pretoria’s Future Africa campus on 17 January. The meeting also served to welcome new students and to introduce them to processes that are central to their time in the Institute as postgraduate students in the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology and the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme. Issues reported on related to funding, work-study bursaries, field trips, seminar schedules as well as attendance at local and international conferences. FABI Director Professor Bernard Slippers congratulated the research programmes on their outstanding contribution to the Institute in 2019. He said the Institute was growing and needed more space to “top class” scientists starting out. He also outlined a wide range of events and initiatives planned to promote the objective of the United Nations 2020 International Year of Plant Health (IYPH). FABI has  launched a dedicated IYPH page on the FABI website that will highlight events and activities in support of this initiative. FABI PhD candidate Quentin Guignard was also announced as the winner of the recent writing competition held in conjunction with the CTHB and The Conversation Africa.