From 18-21 January, the 49th congress of the Southern African Society of Plant Pathology (SASPP) took place in Bloemfontein. It was one of the largest meetings in the history of the society with more than 200 delegates representing the industry, academia, government and regulatory bodies. FABI was well represented with FABIans giving one keynote address, 15 oral and 17 poster presentations.
During the past week a team of eight researchers arrived in Pretoria for a 4-6 week stay in FABI.
FABI was honoured to host York Timbers CEO, Piet van Zyl, on 15 January.
Dr Peter Mortimer, Associate Professor in the Soil Biology Group at the Kunming Institute of Botany, visited FABI last week on the invitation of FABI Director, Prof Mike Wingfield.
FABI was abuzz with activity when one of the large Carob (Ceratonia siliqua) trees in the courtyard toppled shortly after a short but severe mid-morning thunderstorm moved through the Tuks Campus last week.
Over the past few years staff and students of FABI on an annual basis initiated, contributed and participated in welfare projects as part of its social responsibility programme.
The start of the new academic year saw some 180 FABIans cram into the FABI auditorium where they were welcomed by FABI director, Prof.
The British Society of Plant Pathology (BSPP)/Southern African Society for Plant Pathology (SASPP) Grace Waterhouse Fellowship is awarded to a Southern African MSc or PhD student, allowing them to conduct research in a laboratory in the UK.
After 17 years of employment and dedication, is was with sadness and a heavy heart that FABIans bid farewell to Mrs Vivienne Clarence on December 10th.
Prof Volker Brozel, Head of the Department of Biology and Microbiology, South Dakota State University, visited FABI in early December. Photo: Prof Brozel having dinner with Profs Fanus Venter and Brenda Wingfield, acting Dean.
FABI researchers Drs Jeff Garnas and Brett Hurley joined collaborators Ms Flora Krivak-Tetley and Dr Sandy Liebhold in Hogsback, Eastern Cape to investigate infestations of the Sirex woodwasp, Sirex noctilio.
Prof Lori Eckhardt from the Faculty of the School of Forestry and Wildlife Science of the Auburn University, Alabama, and her MSc student Andrea Cole recently visited FABI to learn more about Sirex noctilio. Photo: Andrea Cole doing nematode isolations from Sirex wasps.
Field research and regular interaction with industry stakeholders are two key activities of the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP).
This month Sílvia Maússe Sitoe, an MSc student from Mozambique, received the examiner’s reports for her dissertation on the diseases of plantation Eucalyptus species in that country.
A Phylogenenomics Workshop was presented at FABI from 17 to 21 November 2014.
The forestry research team (including members of the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme - TPCP), the DST/NRF Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB) and the Forest Molecular Genetics Programme (FMG) enjoyed the pleasure of a visit by Sappi senior executives on Friday 21st November.
The Forest Molecular Genetics (FMG) Programme in FABI hosted members from the South African Forestry industry at their annual Research Meeting on Tuesday, 18 November, at the University of Pretoria.
A fabulous Highveld thunderstorm provided the perfect prelude to the 17th Annual FABI year end gala dinner and awards ceremony. Student awards for 2014 Best MSc (based on final marks by external examiners): Marike Palmer and Desre Pinard. Special awards to people not a member of FABI FABI award recognizing contributions by a member of staff of the University of Pretoria (outside of FABI):Ms Jayvanti Pillay, Accountant of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences. View more photos of the event in the gallery.
The Department of Science and Technology/National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB) housed at FABI was one of the first six CoE’s (selected via an open call and competitive process) to be selected for funding by the South African Government in 2014.
The Department of Science and Technology (DST)/ National Research Foundation (NRF) Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology is based in FABI but funds researchers at various Universities and Institutions elsewhere in South Africa.
Dr Jirí Foit from Mendel University in Brno, Chech Republic recently completed a two-month visit to FABI.
The annual lunch to celebrate the achievements of two of the outreach programmes of the DST/NRF Centre for Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB) was held at FABI on Wednesday 5 November 2014 and attended by over seventy people.
Sirex noctilio, also known as the European woodwasp, is one of the major pests on pine trees. Besides the interesting research and lab work Katrin also had the opportunity to learn about the Spanish kitchen, see the UNESCO heritage sight, the Roman wall in Lugo surrounding the old city centre, as well as the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, the designation of the St.
The first DuPont Plant Breeding Symposium to be held on African soil was recently hosted by the Genomics Research Institute (GRI) at the University of Pretoria. More photos of the symposium can be seen in the gallery.
Mike Wingfield, Director of FABI, had the special pleasure of hosting Prof.
The genus Ceratocystis accommodates many important fungi, including serious plant pathogens, significant insect symbionts and agents of timber degradation that result in substantial economic losses. De Beer ZW, Duong TA, Barnes I, Wingfield BD, Wingfield MJ.
This week a review paper by three FABIans, Bernard Slippers, Brett Hurley and Mike Wingfield, was published online in the prestigious Annual Review of Entomology, the top ranked journal in entomology with a current impact factor of 13. A copy of the online early version of the review can be downloaded from the website of the Annual Review of Entomology by subscribers, or can be requested by email from Bernard Slippers or Brett Hurley. Slippers B, Hurley BP, Wingfield MJ.
Today, a large group of Honnours, Masters, and PhD students, and even three Postdoctoral fellows, of the TPCP and CTHB programmes joined in to replant 2700 Eucalyptus trees into bags at the FABI nursery on the experimental farm.
Over the past thirteen years the University of Pretoria Archives has been offering photographic workshops and a competition to the staff and students of the University of Pretoria. We are proud to announce that Angelique du Preez, one of our FABI students, participated in this photographic workshop and won the compact camera division. Interested staff and students can already enrol for next year’s photographic workshop at the UPA.
A symposium with the topic “Genomics of crops and pathogens for molecular breeding” will be hosted by the Genomics Research Institute at the University of Pretoria (UP) on 6 November 2014.
We congratulate Ritesh Mewalal, a PhD student in the FMG programme in FABI, whose essay was taken up in the current selection of NextGen VOICES of the journal Science.
SASBi-SAGS 2014 at Kwalata Ranch The joint congress of the South African Society for Bioinformatics (SASBi) and the South African Genetics Society (SAGS) took place at Kwalata Ranch outside Pretoria, which is part of the Dinokeng Conservancy, from 23 to 26 September.
IUFRO World Congress 2014 closing ceremony and gala dinner by Dr Casper Crous And so we have come to the end of the 2014 IUFRO World Congress here in Salt Lake City, USA. To describe the congress in this text would probably amount to me being hyperbolic. This was one of the most academically intense yet gratifying congresses I have ever attended. As the delegates at the gala dinner are politely sipping away at a beverage of their choice, the words of Dr Cecil Konijnendijk spoken earlier resonates: "Foresters are in the business of creating happiness". So I return to South Africa with somewhat of a "brain fry", but also with a knowing that being part of FABI puts one in a position to address the current issues concerning our valuable forest resources. It was also decided that the next World Congress will be in Curitiba, Brazil, in 2019. See you back in South Africa.
