The research programmes and activities of several FABIans are profiled in the second issue of the Timber Industry Present magazine (TIP-MAG), an online publication of the Timber Industry Pesticides Working Group (TIPWG) of Forestry South Africa (FSA).

FSA Director: Research and Protection, Dr Ronald Heath, explains that the aim with the launch of this publication was to provide a platform for researchers and students involved in forest research to publish work that might not fit the criteria for peer-reviewed scientific journals but is still of exceptional quality and valuable to the industry. The magazine has also made innovative and complex science available to a far wider audience.

In the current issue, Prof. Brett Hurley explains the use of biocontrol to manage insect pests in forestry. Forest Molecular Genetics PhD candidate Marja Mostert-O’Neill outlines her research work on assessing wild Eucalyptus grandis populations in search of adaptive genetic variation to help commercial eucalypts adapt to climate change. Mmoledi Mphahlele is another PhD candidate in the FMG programme whose research focuses on using genomic selection breeding strategies in Eucalyptus grandis. And FMG postdoctoral Fellow Dr Nanette Christie explains the development of a SNP chip that can also be used for species and hybrid identification, genetic resource management and genome-assisted breeding of pine trees in South Africa.