The 2021 Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship Award from the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust to FABI’s Prof. Mike Wingfield catalyzed a concerted effort to collect and characterize yeasts associated with the fungal human pathogen, Cryptococcus neoformans.  One of these yeasts, Cryptococcus wingfieldii, first described by Prof. Johannes van der Walt in the genus Sterigmatomyces, has been found living in close association with wood boring beetles, notably in the genus Lanurgus.  Thus far, these yeasts have all been found in cooler parts of South Africa prompting a search for them in the warmer sub-tropical parts of the country.  A target tree in these investigations is the well-known Mopane (Colophospermum mopane). Prof. Coert Geldenhuys, a well-known retired forest ecologist and extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria has assisted the team in collecting dying Mopane twigs from which wood boring beetles have been collected.  With the help of FABI’s Dr Seonju Marincowitz and Dr Nam Pham, isolations from these beetles are underway in the hope of discovering additional yeast species and possibly extending knowledge relating to fungi in the environment that could be of medical relevance. Some background to this broader initiative can be found here.