A small group of FABI researchers assisted in an “emergency transplant” of a consignment of pine tree seedlings on 20 March. It is imperative that these seedlings were replanted as they would not otherwise survive in the trays and it would be a significant setback for the project if they died.
Thursday morning seminars (TMS) continued on 19 March, albeit now from the FABI boardroom and using video conferencing.
FABI hosted a visit by two research and development specialists from the Brazilian-based forestry company Suzano Pulp and Paper. During their visit to FABI on 12 March, the visitors participated in a round table discussion including FABI Director Prof.
FABI handed out long service certificates to 25 staff members at the Monday morning meeting on 16 March.
FABI has officially launched an Applied Chemical Ecology satellite laboratory and research programme in co-operation with Natural Resources Canada. The group’s research interests lie at the interface of behavioral chemical ecology and pest management.
The Manager of the Centre for Synthetic Biology and Precision Medicine at the CSIR, Dr Deepak Balaji Thimiri Govinda Raj invited FABIans to collaborate with the Centre’s researchers during a presentation at the Monday Morning Meeting.
FABI Research Fellow, Dr.
The DSI-NRF Centre for Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB) in FABI welcomed 10 interns on 2 March.
The CTHB Outreach Team at FABI hosted “Meet the scientists” information sessions for undergraduate students at the University of Pretoria on 26 and 27 February.
Macadamia Protection Programme research group leader, Dr Gerda Fourie, PhD candidate Angel Maduke and MSc student Ashleigh Smith visited research collaborators Prof. Andre Drenth and Prof. Femi Akinsanmi from the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) at the University of Queensland in Brisbane Australia, from 15-29 February.
In observing the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH), the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Pretoria hosted a seminar series on plant health and food safety at the FABI Auditorium on 2 March. Prof.
Twenty undergraduate students will gain hands-on scientific research experience as mentees in the CTHB Mentorship Programme.
FABI celebrated the first publications in an ISI-rated scientific journal of four FABI postgraduate students in the TPCP and CTHB groups at a gathering on 27 February. Publications: Katumanyane A. Messal M. van Wyk S. Lynn K.
During the past week, FABI founding Director Prof. Mike Wingfield began the substantial task of sorting through his extensive 35mm slide archive housed at the Institute.
The Hans Merensky Chair in Avocado Research has been established at FABI within the Avocado Research Programme (ARP).
The research team in FABI that works with bark and ambrosia beetles, are currently part of an international collaborative project with American peers, funded jointly by die National Research Foundation (NRF) and National Science Foundation (NSF).
The University of Pretoria’s newly-appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) Sandile Mthiyane was welcomed to the FABI Monday morning meeting by Director Prof.
The Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP) in FABI hosted a “Data Jamboree” on 7 February that saw 44 students in the research programme spend the day capturing historical data from the disease clinic.
Three FABIans, Dr Neriman Yilmaz, Dr Felix Fru and Claudette Dewing attended the two-day MycoSafe-South workshop hosted by the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in collaboration with Ghent University (GU) in Belgium, from 13-14 February.
Dr Gerda Fourie, leader of the Macadamia Protection Programme at FABI along with postdoctoral Fellow Dr Arista Fourie, PhD candidate Angel Maduke and MSc students Ashleigh Smith, Dee Twiddy and Byron Sonnekus, recently visited various Macadamia growers in the Mpumalanga Province to conduct disease consultations, sample diseased material for new and on-going research projects and plan future field experiments.
In January 2020, Prof. Brett Hurley and Dr Nicolas Kagimu visited Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.
Two FABIans have each earned a spot in the FameLab SA contest and they stand a chance to represent South Africa in the FameLab International finals in the United Kingdom.
FABI congratulates Robert Backer who marked the milestone of completing his PhD study with a prestige seminar on 6 February.
Edgar Mangwende celebrated the milestone of completing his PhD study with a seminar at the Plant Sciences Complex Auditorium on 4 February.
FABI PhD graduate Dr Elrea Strydom was awarded the Protein Research Foundation’s “Best PhD Award of the Year 2018” at a ceremony at their head office in Woodmead, Johannesburg on 30 January.
Congratulations to Jan Nagel on completing all the requirements for his PhD, becoming the second FABIan in as many days to achieve this milestone.
FABI would like to congratulate Joey Hulbert on becoming the first FABIan to successfully fulfill all requirements for completion of their PhD in 2020.
Forty eight students from the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP) in FABI braved cool, wet and muddy conditions on the morning of 24 January to replant 1,500 seedlings into potting bags.
Profs Roets and De Beer confirmed last week that the PSHB outbreak in the Western Cape is expanding.
The 28th Annual Plant and Animal Genome Conference (PAG XXVIII) was held in San Diego, USA from 11-15 January.
FABI PhD candidate Quentin Guignard bagged a R30,000 cash prize paid towards attending an international conference of his choice after winning a writing competition held in conjunction with the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB) and The Conversation Africa.
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 United Nations (UN) has declared 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH-2020). This will be "to raise awareness of the importance and impacts of plant health in addressing issues of global importance, including hunger, poverty, threats to the environment and economic development".
Professor Mike Wingfield, Founding Director of FABI and Prof. Brenda Wingfield (NRF SARCHi Chair in Fungal Genetics) had the honour of being invited by His Excellency Mr Lin Songtian, the Chinese Ambassador to South Africa, to attend a celebration of the 2020 Lunar New Year.
FABI will be the place to be in 2020 for plant health research and events marking the United Nation’s International Year of Plant Health (IYPH 2020) said Prof. Bernard Slippers at the Institute’s opening on 13 January.
The First Annual Meeting of the HOMED project was held from 27-29 November in Padova, Italy.