Dr Wilma Nel has been appointed as the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP) Diagnostic Clinic Manager as from 1 June. She will manage the processing and reporting of all samples sent by TPCP members to the FABI diagnostic clinic, together with the diagnostic clinic team and with support from the academic staff. Pest and disease diagnostics is a crucial part of the service the TPCP provides to its members, but also a foundation and important link to much of the research within the group, and thus as part of her position Wilma will contribute to and lead research relating to pest and disease diagnostics. 

Wilma obtained her MSc at the University of Pretoria in 2018 on 'Taxonomy and biology of the plant pathogenic fungus Thielaviopsis basicola' and her PhD at the same institute in 2021 on 'Ophiostomatoid fungi associated with fungus farming insects in South Africa'. She recently finished a two-year Postdoc investigating biological control options for the Polyphagous shot hole borer. She has experience in molecular, bioinformatics, microscopy, mycology and entomology techniques, and is passionate about taxonomy and diagnostics.