5 Oct 2017

FABI shines at the IUFRO Anniversary Congress

A large contingent of FABI and other South African forestry research scientists and postgraduate students attended the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations’ 125th Anniversary Congress held from 18-22 September in Freiburg, Germany. IUFRO President and FABI Director Prof Mike Wingfield was joined by 11 fellow FABIans along with eight other South Africa representatives. The five-day conference drew 1,348 oral and 454 poster presentations by more than 2,000 attendees to the congress. Posters: Arriagada-Cares D. De Vos L, M. Gevers C. Granados G. Hulbert, J. Pham N. Santana Q. Vivas M. Session Presentations: Chirwa P. Hurley B. Jami F. Naidoo S. Pavlic-Zupanc D. FABIans organised two discussion sessions: Dr Brett Hurley. Joey Hulbert. Dr Irene Barnes chaired a session “Dothistroma and other needle diseases of pine”.

4 Oct 2017

FABIANs attend International Symposium on Biological Control

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!

4 Oct 2017

FABI student leads international session at IUFRO Congress

FABI PhD student Joey Hulbert organised a session titled ‘Early detection and monitoring of invasive forest pests and pathogens with citizen science’ at the IUFRO 125th Anniversary Congress in Freiburg Germany.

3 Oct 2017

Professor Mike Wingfield receives the Chinese Government Friendship Award

Professor Mike Wingfield, Director of FABI and President of IUFRO visited Beijing during the weekend of 28 September where he received the Chinese Government Friendship Award for 2017. The award was presented to Mike to acknowledge his 20 years of collaboration with Chinese colleagues in the field of tree health. Mike’s visit to China also provided an opportunity to meet with various colleagues with close ties to IUFRO.

2 Oct 2017

IUFRO President’s Dinner celebrates 125 year history

IUFRO President Prof. Located on the historical Münsterplatz, the Kaufhaus’ scarlet façade is a landmark on the square. (Main group photo credit: Klaus Polkowski/IUFRO)

29 Sep 2017

IUFRO President addresses IFSA sub-plenary session on forestry

The International Forestry Students’ Association (IFSA) hosted a sub-plenary session titled “Our future forests” during the International Union of Forest Research Organization’s (IUFRO) 125th Anniversary Congress in Freiburg, Germany. The session included a panel discussion led by IFSA President Salina Abraham that debated what future forests will look like and how forestry education must adapt to address the changing needs of the future generations of researchers, many of whom are IFSA members.

29 Sep 2017

IUFRO-EFI Young Scientists Initiative Launched at Anniversary Congress

IUFRO President Prof. Information about the initiative and the application process, which closes on 31 December 2017, can be found on both the IUFRO and EFI websites.

28 Sep 2017

IUFRO Russian book launch

IUFRO and the Russian forestry community have a long and successful association that stretches back several decades. The book is nearly 600 pages long and an electronic version can be downloaded here.

27 Sep 2017

Acoustic Welcome for the IUFRO President

The opening of the International Union of Forest Organizations (IUFRO) 125th Anniversary Congress saw President Prof.

27 Sep 2017

IUFRO 125th Anniversary Congress opens

The much anticipated International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) 125th Anniversary Congress was opened by President Prof. Mike Wingfield on 19 September in Freiburg, Germany.

20 Sep 2017

FABI researcher elected as a Fellow of the Next Einstein Forum

Congratulations to FABI researcher, Dr Sanushka Naidoo, who has been elected as a Fellow of the Next Einstein Forum (NEF).

19 Sep 2017

IUFRO President officiates at tree planting ceremony

IUFRO President and director of FABI Prof.  

14 Sep 2017

Sarawak Forestry Group visits FABI

FABI was honoured to receive a visit on 11 September by a delegation of forestry industry representatives from Sarawak in Malaysia.

14 Sep 2017

FABI volleyball team face rivals at UP Spring Day tournament

FABIans took to the courts once again on 13 September at the University of Pretoria’s Spring Day celebrations on the LC de Villiers Sports Campus.

12 Sep 2017

Three papers published on genetics and genomics of Cassava Brown Streak Disease

Three UP-FABI PhD students, based in Uganda and Kenya, recently published first author papers on results from a Gates Foundation project on the genetics of cassava tolerance to CBSD.

12 Sep 2017

Centre of Excellence Annual Director’s Forum and Community Outreach

The Annual Centres of Excellence Director’s Forum held in Port Elizabeth from 31 August till 2 September gave South African scientists a platform to discuss the Triumvirate (people, knowledge enterprise and engagement with society) Transformation in the DST-NRF Centres of Excellence. Core team members from the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB) engaged young learners from Port Elizabeth at a science outreach forum.

8 Sep 2017

Macadamia research: FABI attend the 2017 SAMAC Research Symposium

Dr Gerda Fourie from FABI attended the annual Southern African Macadamia Growers’ Association (SAMAC) Research Symposium held on 6-7 September at Sibaya Casino, KwaZulu-Natal.

8 Sep 2017

FABI student's poster commended in SAASTA's Young Science Communicators Competition

FABI PhD candidate Darryl Herron was highly commended for his poster about “Food Security” in the Annual Young Science Communicators competition organized by SAASTA.

7 Sep 2017

FABIans welcome spring in a kaleidoscope of colour!

FABI held its annual Spring Tea in the FABI Courtyard on 1 September.

4 Sep 2017

The Department of Plant and Soil Sciences hosts learners from Woodhill College

FABI staff and students in Department of Plant and Soil Sciences hosted a School Science Day for Grade 11 learners and teachers from Woodhill College.

31 Aug 2017

Listening in on plant-microbe communication: Australian Mycologist visits FABI

FABI hosted Dr Jonathan Plett, a leading mycologist, from the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment at Western Sydney University, Australia from 28-30 August.

25 Aug 2017

APRIL Forestry Group visits FABI

FABI had the pleasure of hosting a visit on the 22 August by a delegation of senior management and researchers from the Indonesia-based Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Limited (APRIL), a division of the Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) Group of companies.

25 Aug 2017

Extraordinary Professor Gerhard Pietersen says farewell to colleagues and students after 13 years at UP

Staff and students in the Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology of the University of Pretoria gathered on 21 August to wish Extraordinary Professor Gerhard Pietersen well as he takes up a research position in the Western Cape. Prof. He supervised 16 completed MSc's and two completed PhD's during his time at UP. Prof.

23 Aug 2017

Andrea (Andi) Wilson: Another FABI award!

The South African Women in Science Awards ceremony and gala dinner - one of South Africa’s premier Science events of the year, was held at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton on 17 August.

21 Aug 2017

FABI represented at 2017 North Gauteng Senior Science Fair

Eight FABIans served on the judging panel of the North Gauteng Senior Science Fair at the University of Pretoria’s LC de Villiers Sports Campus on 18 August.  

15 Aug 2017

The CTHB Outreach Team brings science fever to Mpumalanga

From 7 to 11 August, the FABI/CTHB tent at the Mondi Science, Career Guidance and FET Skills Centre was a haven for science enthusiasts of all ages who attended the annual National Science Week (NSW) celebrations. The experiments challenged the learners to think out of the box and beyond “magic” as an answer to things they could not initially explain. The CTHB Outreach Team was one of several exhibitors who took part in the initiative spearheaded by the Department of Science and Technology. The CTHB Outreach Team this year included postgraduate students Juanita Avontuur, Arista Fourie, Angel Maduke and Benedicta Swalarsk-Parry along with Namhla Tshisela.

14 Aug 2017

FABI has a presence at Science Week in Khayelitsha

Hundreds of leaners from local schools converged on the O.

8 Aug 2017

FABIan participates in Nomenclature Section of the International Botanical Congress (IBC) in China

Prof. Wilhelm de Beer of FABI participated in the Nomenclature Section of the recent International Botanical Congress (IBC) in Shenzeng, China.

4 Aug 2017

Chinese Embassy delegation visits FABI

FABI was honoured to receive a visit on 28 July by a delegation from the Pretoria Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, led by Counselor Huang Wei. They were shown the research work being undertaken at the FABI Biocontrol Centre at the University of Pretoria’s experimental farm. The Institute has had a long association with China through the CERC-FABI Tree Protection Programme (CFTPP), a cooperative venture between the China Eucalypt Research Centre (CERC) of the Chinese Academy of Forestry in China, and FABI. The CFTPP arose from a long-term collaboration between the two institutions that was formally established in 2014.

4 Aug 2017

FABI fungal genome first with a MinION

The first 'in-house' fungal genome has been sequenced in the halls of FABI using Oxford NanoPore sequencing technology. Photo Caption:  Dr Tuan Doung loads the first sample of genomic DNA run on the MinION at FABI.

3 Aug 2017

FABIan re-elected to ICSP Board

Professor Fanus Venter recently attended the meeting of the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes (ICSP) in Valencia, Spain from 7-9 July as representative of the South African Society for Microbiology. He was also invited to present a lecture at the 7th Congress of European Microbiologists (FEMS 2017) in Valencia as one of four invited speakers to a session on the role of genome sequence analysis in polyphasic taxonomy and prokaryotic systematics.

31 Jul 2017

Mike Wingfield conferred the China Friendship Award

FABI Director Prof.

28 Jul 2017

FABIans contribute to the sustainability of a diverse forestry sector at the 7th Forestry Science Symposium

FABI had a significant presence at the 7th Forestry Science Symposium hosted by the Institute for Commercial Forestry Research (ICFR) in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) and the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO). This symposium, held in Pietermaritzburg from 18-21 July, brought together more than 200 participants from Government, commercial forestry companies, research institutions and universities. All sharing an interest i

25 Jul 2017

FABI researchers attend MSA meeting

The 2017 meeting of the Mycological Society of America (MSA) with the theme “Translational mycology: Putting fungal diversity to work” was held from 16-19 July in Athens, Georgia, USA. Lieschen presented a talk  "Analysis of the twelfth chromosome of a representative set of species within the Fusarium fujikuroi species complex". Brenda presented two posters, both with a focus on Mating type genes: "Review and revision of the nomenclature system for MAT genes in the Pezizomycotina" and "Genome sequencing reveals a heterothallic mating system in the Eucalyptus pathogen Chrysoporthe austroafricana". Brenda was also presented a plaque from the MSA to celebrate her recognition as an Honorary Member of MSA.

21 Jul 2017

FABIans attend the 2017 Combined Congress of the Entomological and Zoological Societies of Southern Africa

The 2017 Combined Congress of the Entomological and Zoological Societies of Southern Africa took place from 3-7 July at the CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa. Over 400 people attended the congress, moving between four parallel sessions covering a wide variety of thematic areas. The congress hosted plenary presentations by eminent scientists, including Professors Daniel Simberloff, Phil Stevenson and Bill Karasov while lunchtime workshops discussed topics such as career

20 Jul 2017

FABI welcomes IFSS delegates

Delegates participating in the International Forestry Students Symposium (IFSS) 2017 visited FABI on Sunday 16 July.