FMG tree planting day
The Forestry Molecular Genetics (FMG) research group in FABI had its first tree planting day of the year.
31 Mar 2017
29 Mar 2017
FABIans attend international Phytophthora meeting
A delegation of five postdoctoral and doctoral students, and a technical staff member from FABI presented at the 8th IUFRO Phytophthora in Forests and Natural Ecosystems Meeting in Vietnam.
24 Mar 2017
FABIans celebrate the third PhD prestige seminar of the year!
Phathi Sibanda is the latest postgraduate student at FABI to complete a PhD degree in 2017. She marked the occasion by delivering her prestige seminar in front of her family, friends and colleagues on 22 March.
17 Mar 2017
FABI Director meets Minister of Forestry in Baden-Württemberg (Germany) and sees ash die-back
During the week of 13th March, FABI Director Prof. Mike Wingfield visited Freiburg in Germany, primarily to meet with colleagues responsible for organising the IUFRO 125th Anniversary Congress to be held in Freiburg from 18-22 September 2017.
14 Mar 2017
FABI Postdoctoral Fellow hunting biocontrol agents Down Under
Dr. Michelle Schroder, a postdoctoral fellow at FABI is spending two months collaborating with researchers at the University of the Sunshine Coast’s (USC) Forest Industries Research Centre.
10 Mar 2017
FABIans participate in a spruce-bark beetle workshop
The European spruce bark beetle, Ips typographus, is the most damaging insect pest of palearctic forests.
8 Mar 2017
CTHB mentorship students welcomed to FABI
FABI welcomed 17 DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Tree Health (CTHB) mentorship students at a function on 3 March.
3 Mar 2017
FABI academics participate in landmark international Practical Synthetic Biology workshop
Several FABI academics participated in a recent landmark International Practical Synthetic Biology Workshop sponsored by the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF).
2 Mar 2017
FABI launches its Annual Blanket Drive for winter 2017
FABI has launched its Annual Blanket Drive in aid of those in need of warmth this coming winter. FABIans donated 200 blankets last year to Meet and Eat, an initiative run by six church dominations that provides meals for homeless people in the Hatfield and Hillcrest suburbs.
25 Feb 2017
Growing collaborations between FABI and Japanese Forest and Forest Products Research Institute
FABI has been developing relationships and collaborations with researchers at the Forest and Forest Product Research Institute (FFPRI) in Japan since 2007.
24 Feb 2017
Macadamia Protection Programme launched at FABI
The Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI) and Southern African Macadamia Growers’ Association (SAMAC) have established a collaborative research partnership, the Macadamia Protection Programme (MaPP). This programme will address the threats posed by pests and diseases to Macadamia farming in South Africa.
19 Feb 2017
French collaborator visits FABI
During the past week, Prof. David Sillam-Dussès from the University of Paris visited FABI to do some field work as part of a collaborative research project.
17 Feb 2017
FABIan participates in camp for Zoology Honours students
Quentin Guignard, a PhD student in FABI, attended a camp for new Honours students organised by the University of Pretoria’s Department of Zoology and Entomology at the Kwalata Lodge in the Dinokeng Reserve from 7-10 February.
10 Feb 2017
FABI hosts the second PhD prestige seminar in 2017
Jacqueline Meyer delivered her prestige seminar at FABI and successfully defended her PhD thesis on 8 February. The title of her presentation was: “RNA-Seq and metabolic profiling of resistant and susceptible sub-tropical maize lines reveals a role for kauralexins in resistance to grey leaf spot disease caused by Cercospora zeina”.
9 Feb 2017
TPCP/CTHB team members outline strategy for 2017
Members of the TPCP and CTHB at FABI gathered at the Uitspan Personnel Centre at the University of Pretoria’s LC de Villiers sports grounds for a day of discussions, feedback and sports on 3 February. The team was also introduced to Esna du Plessis, Ginna Granados, Rachel Mkandawire and Emeldah Rikhotso, who form part of the 2017 cohort of students working in the TPCP/CTHB Diagnostic Clinic.
9 Feb 2017
TPCP celebrates students’ first publications
A celebration was held at FABI on 6 February to mark the first publication in an ISI Rated Journal by five members of the TPCP research team.
3 Feb 2017
World leading mycologist from Patagonia visits FABI
Prof. Mario Rajchenberg of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council and the Research and Extension Center for Andean Patagonian Forests in Argentina visited FABI during the past two weeks.
2 Feb 2017
Four students bag cash prizes for original poster designs
Congratulations to four PhD students at FABI who submitted five winning posters in the CTHB Outreach Poster competition last year!
30 Jan 2017
Prof. Mary Barbercheck presents a special seminar at FABI
Prof. Mary Barbercheck from the College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State University presented a special seminar at FABI on 27 January. The occasion marked Prof. Barbercheck’s return visit to South Africa after more than 30 years as one of Birhan Abate’s PhD external examiners. She presented her seminar titled “Effects of soil characteristics and management of Metarhizium, a bifunctional fungus, in organic cropping systems”.
27 Jan 2017
First FABI PhD awarded for 2017!
Birhan Abate is the latest student at FABI to complete a PhD degree and the first to deliver a prestige seminar in 2017. He passed his PhD oral examination on 27 January, a day after presenting his prestige seminar. Professor Mike Wingfield presented him with a framed certificate of completion, an award accorded to FABIans who reach this milestone, and congratulated him for his “trailblazing” work.
26 Jan 2017
FABIans gear up for 2017 at the first MMM and welcome breakfast
FABIans ushered in 2017 with a sumptuous breakfast and the annual group photo on 23 January. The day marked the first Monday Morning Meeting of the year and the resumption of research activities at FABI with staff and students returning from their annual year-end break.
25 Jan 2017
The 28th Annual TPCP Symposium draws near!! Save the dates (15-17 May 2017)
The annual meeting of the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP) and DST/NRF Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB) is rapidly drawing closer. As has been the case in the past, the 28th annual meeting of the TPCP will focus on key issues relating to forest tree health in South Africa. We look forward to welcoming you in Pretoria and once again to use this opportunity to exchange ideas and to further the important goal of “KEEPING TREES HEALTHY”.
24 Jan 2017
Fabian receives Mathre Education Endowment Award from the American Phytopathological Society
FABI PhD candidate Joey Hulbert has been awarded the Mathre Education Endowment for 2017 to help cover costs of public engagement in Cape Citizen Science. More information about the award can be found here.
23 Jan 2017
New FABI paper in PNAS sets the publication bar high for 2017
One of the first FABI papers for 2017 was published online on January 17th in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) with an Impact Factor of 9.423. Three members of the Forest Molecular Genetics (FMG) Programme in FABI was involved in the work: Dr Eshchar Mizrachi was first author, with Prof. Zander Myburg the senior author, and Dr Nanette Christie a co-author together with a team of collaborators from Belgi
20 Jan 2017
Renovated Tooke memorial unveiled
An unusual but important granite monument has stood steadfastly under a grove of magnificent plane trees near the entrance to Cedara Agricultural College for almost 20 years. The renovated Tooke monument was unveiled at a small ceremony attended by three generations of the Tooke family, FABI researchers and guests from Government, the South African forestry industry and associations. Addressing the guests, Dr. In his speech, FABI Director, Prof. Prof. Dr Brett Hurley, a forest entomologist that leads the forest insect biological control programme at FABI shared stories taken from the doctoral thesis of Dr.
18 Jan 2017
Two FABIans win major awards at SASPP
On the last day of the SASPP a keynote lecture was presented by Prof. Dawn Arnold of the Sciences University of the West of England on "A persistent reservoir of a genomic island in Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola." Six talks were presented by FABIans, including Prof. Dave Berger, Dr Irene Barnes, Dr Almuth Hammerbacher, Dr Markus Wilken and students Rachel Mkandawire and Wilma Nel.
17 Jan 2017
FABI at the SASPP: Day 2
The second day of the 2017 congress of the Southern African Society for Plant Pathology (SASPP) kicked off with the Ethyl M. Doidge Memorial Address delivered by Prof. Carolee Bull of Pennsylvania State University.
17 Jan 2017
21 FABI students and postdocs take part in speed poster presentations at SASPP congress
The organizers of the 2017 congress of the Southern African Society for Plant Pathology (SASPP) introduced a new way in which students can present their posters. As is typical for congresses, posters were displayed in a hall separate from the auditorium where oral presentations took place. However, this year the authors of posters were provided two sessions in the main hall where they were each given 2 minutes to introduce their poster without the assistance of powerpoint slides.
16 Jan 2017
Strong FABI delegation attends Southern African Society of Plant Pathology (SASPP) Congress
The 2017 congress of the Southern African Society for Plant Pathology (SASPP) took place last week at Champagne Sports Resort in the Drakensberg. This year the meeting commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Society, and this was celebrated by five past presidents of the Society popping champagne on the first evening. Forty six FABIans, including 36 students, attended the congress.
16 Jan 2017
FABI scientists crowd funding to engage youth in their research
On Monday, 16 January, three FABI researchers, Prof. The title of the campaign is ‘Engage Kayamandi Youth in Cape Citizen Science with Vision Afrika’ and can be viewed here. Cape Citizen Science is an initiative to involve the public in research about the diversity and distribution of Phytophthora in the Cape floristic region. The researchers launched the crowd funding campaign to raise support for a partnership between FABI and Vision Afrika, a non-profit afterschool education program in Kayamandi.
12 Jan 2017
Skills development for FABIans attending the Arthropod Bio-Curation Course
Dr Robert Waterhouse from the University of Geneva presented a training course in arthropod genomics at Vodaworld in Midrand between 28 November and 1 December.
12 Jan 2017
FABIans shine at the Genomics Research Institute Symposium
FABI was well represented at the annual symposium of the Genomics Research Institute (GRI) held at the University of Pretoria on 18 November.
2 Dec 2016
Exploring fungal biodiversity in eastern Australia
The Director of FABI, Prof. Mike Wingfield, has spent the last week of November pursuing a long-term project to identify and compare pathogens of Myrtaceae and Proteaceae in Australia and South Africa.
2 Dec 2016
Mycological musing at the Melbourne Botanical Garden
On Friday 2nd December, Prof. Mike Wingfield (Director of FABI) and Prof. Pedro Crous (Director of the Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures and adjunct Professor at the University of Pretoria) visited Dr. Tom May, mycologist at the Melbourne Botanical Garden.
25 Nov 2016
Students in the CTHB take part in the annual CTHB Roadshow
Students at Rhodes University (RU) and the University of Venda (UV) with projects funded by the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB) presented progress on their research projects on 23 November at FABI. Deputy Director in the CTHB Prof Emma Steenkamp, Prof Nigel Barker of the School of Plant and Crop Sciences at the University of Pretoria, Dr Martin Coetzee of the Department of Genetics at UP as well as Prof Eastonce Gwata and Prof Ednah Kunjeku from the Department of Plant Production at UV, led the process. The presenters and their presentation titles are listed below: Prof Barker presented on behalf of PhD student at RU, Sivu Situngu, who could not attend: “Ecological associations between leaf domatia and mites”. MSc student at the School of Plant and Crop Sciences at UP, Conny Mothwa presented “A comparative phylogeography of selected native forest species” focusing on three indigenous tree species that grow in different regions in South Africa. PhD student at the UV Lovejoy Tembo discussed the different roles that factors as temperature and rainfall have on the prevalence of a smut disease in: “Incidence and severity of smut pathogen Coniodictyum chevalieri on Ziziphus mucronata species”. Elelwani Ramabulana of UV presented a PhD proposal titled: “Diversity of Botryosphaeriaceae on the Anarcadiaceae in Limpopo Province”. Dakalo Nemamilwe, MSc student at UV: “Preliminary characterisation of Rhizobial strains associated with indigenous wild legumes”.
23 Nov 2016
FABIans celebrate excellence at 2016 year-end function
FABIans looked back on the challenges they faced in 2016 and celebrated their achievements at the annual year-end function and awards ceremony on 19 November. Chairman of the board of the Hans Merensky Foundation and Chancellor of the University of the Free State, Prof. Congratulations to the following people on their awards from Prof Jolanda Roux in recognition of their contributions to FABI: FABIan of the Year: Arista Fourie Best FABI Student Publication: Angelica Marsberg-de Villiers Best FABI Post-Doc Publication: Dr Alistair McTaggart Best MSc: Andi Wilson FABI Award for Mentorship: James Mehl, Katrin Fitza, Esna du Plessis, Tanay Bose, Arista Fourie, Andi Wilson and FeiFei Liu Best FABI Student Personal Website: Joey Hulbert, Darryl Herron and Tanay Bose FABI Award “Getting the Message to the Public”: Darryl Herron, Joey Hulbert and Benedicta Swalarsk-Parry FABI Award Recognising Contributions by a Person External to the Institute: Dr Charlie Clark FABI Award Recognising Contributions by a Member of Staff of the University of Pretoria: Leanne van Zyl FABI Photographic Awards – FABIans at Work: Prof. FABI Photographic Awards – FABI Research: Ginna Granados BSc Honours students with projects linked to FABI and undergraduate students that participate in the FABI Mentorship programme also received certificates of appreciation. The Photo Gallery can be viewed by clicking here.