After what felt like an eternity in lockdown, FABI and the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP) were finally able to send their first team back into the field. This came just five days after NASA and SpaceX launched the Dragon mission with astronauts Behnken and Hurley (not Brett), on-board to the International Space Station. Being able to send a team back into the field felt just as exciting as the SpaceX launch, especially for all those involved!

Field work, like space exploration, allows us to collect data and samples, establish important trials and gives us the opportunity to educate as we work. This trip was our return to this ‘space’ and it tested our planning and implementation of our standard operating procedures for field trips during lockdown. Extension officers Sandisiwe Jali and Darryl Herron led the trip to the Mpumalanga province where Darryl was asked to test the water, literally, at Sappi’s Ngodwana nursery for fungal pathogens. PhD candidate, Privilege Makunde, also joined them and together with Sandisiwe they collected plant material and changed traps in the escarpment area, as part of a project to monitor the seasonal occurrence of eucalypt psyllids.

The expedition to Mpumalanga was a success. Unlike Hurley and Behnken who will need to wait till August to return to earth, Sandisiwe, Darryl and Privilege were able to return to Pretoria having successfully crossed the provincial border with traps deployed and samples collected. Since then a second field trip, led by Sandisiwe, has ventured out and further. 

We are especially thankful to Forestry South Africa and the University of Pretoria for providing permits for us to continue with field trips. We hope we will see more of you on these trips as the country opens up more from lockdown!