11 Oct 2019

FABI chemical ecology field trials planned for 2019 and 2020

Work at FABI in the area of applied chemical ecology for insect pest management and monitoring continues to grow.


6 Oct 2019

XXV IUFRO 2019 World Congress closes with a new President-elect at the helm

The XXV IUFRO 2019 World Congress was officially closed on 5 October with a new President at the helm to lead the organisation through the next five years.


6 Oct 2019

FABI flag flies high at the XXV IUFRO World Congress 2019

FABI had a significant and visible presence at the recently concluded XXV IUFRO World Congress 2019 held in the Brazilian city of Curitiba from 29 September to 5 October.


2 Oct 2019

IUFRO President Presents the Wangari Mathai Award for 2019

The Burundian forestry activist Leonidas Nzigiyimpa was announced as the winner of the 2019 Wangari Maathai Forest Champions Award at a ceremony on the sidelines of the XXV IUFRO 2019 World Congress being held in the Brazilian city of Curitiba.


2 Oct 2019

XXV IUFRO World Congress Opens on a high in Curitiba

The XXV IUFRO World Congress 2019 opened in the Brazilian city of Curitiba on Monday 30 September. FABI was well represented at the congress with its Director Prof.  


30 Sep 2019

XXV IUFRO 2019 Tree Planting Ceremony

The XXV IUFRO 2019 World Congress official opening was preceded with a tree planting ceremony at the Curitiba Botanical Gardens on 29 September. It is fitting that the iconic Araucaria trees were planted as the city’s name is derived from the native Tupi language words kurí tyba meaning “many pine seeds” due to the large number of pinecones of the Paraná pines (Araucaria angustafolia) in the region.  


17 Sep 2019

John Taylor visits FABI

FABI was honoured to host a visit by Prof. Professor Taylor was part of the team who pioneered the use of PCR for fungal phylogenetics and ecology.


16 Sep 2019

FABI flying high at the annual NRF Awards Ceremony

FABI researchers featured very prominently at the annual awards ceremony of the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa held at the Lord Charles Hotel (Somerset West) on Thursday 12 September.


13 Sep 2019

The CFTPP Team visit the Chinese Embassy

On 28 August, the CERC-FABI Tree Protection Programme members (CFTPP) team, visited the Chinese Embassy in Pretoria.


12 Sep 2019

FABI considers dying trees and fungal biodiversity in Namaqualand

FABI Founder Director Prof. Mike Wingfield and Prof. Pedro Crous, Director of the Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute (WFBI, Netherlands) and also holding a Professorship in FABI at the University of Pretoria spent four days examining diseases of plants in Namaqualand in the Northern Cape Province.


12 Sep 2019

Chilean Forestry Delegation visits FABI

FABI hosted a three day visit from 9-11 September by Prof.


9 Sep 2019

Fourteen FABIans capped at the 2019 Spring Graduation Ceremony

The University of Pretoria conferred 14 postgraduate degrees – eight PhD degrees and six MSc degrees – to FABIans during the Spring Graduation Ceremony on 5 September. Congratulations to these FABIans on their remarkable achievements!


6 Sep 2019

Prof. Martin Coetzee attends the Mycological Society of America (USA) Meeting 2019

Professor Martin Coetzee attended the 87th meeting of the Mycological Society of America (MSA) from 10-14 August in Minneapolis, USA.


6 Sep 2019

FABI features prominently at AgriCAREERSConnect

FABI was prominent at AgriCAREERSConnect, an interactive careers fair at the University of Pretoria’s Future Africa Campus on 5 September.


5 Sep 2019

FABIans “begin afresh” and look forward to sunnier and happier days at the annual Spring Day Tea

FABIans celebrated a colourful yet pensive Spring Day Tea in the FABI Courtyard on 4 September. The FABI Social Club hosts this colourful spectacle every year in celebration of renewal that comes with the end of winter.


5 Sep 2019

MPI Fungal Symposium 2019

Professor Brenda Wingfield had the privilege of attending the MPI Fungal Symposium in Plön, Germany from 2-4 September.


3 Sep 2019

Michel becomes the latest FABIan to fulfil requirements for a PhD

James Michel Tchotet Tchoumi has become the latest FABIan to pass his PhD, fulfilling all the requirements for completing his degree. Michel’s study aimed to establish the identity and host range of Basidiomycetous wood-rot fungi associated with wood rot systems in the GRNP and lay a foundation on which to continue studies to determine the impact of selective harvesting and other anthropogenic impacts on these forests. The specific objectives of his study included assessing the diversity and host affinities of wood-rotting Basidiomycetes associated with declining native trees in timber-harvesting compartments in the GRNP.


26 Aug 2019

CTHB at FABI hosts delegation from the University of Venda

The DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB) at the University of Pretoria hosted 28 undergraduate students and staff from the University of Venda (UniVen) on 22 August.


23 Aug 2019

Connecting with FABI friends in Sabah-Malaysia

Professor Mike Wingfield, Founder Director of FABI recently visited Sabah in Malaysia to continue work on tree diseases, especially the devastation that Ceratocytis manginecans has caused to Acacia mangium plantations in the area.


22 Aug 2019

Lori Eckhardt visits FABI

Long-time FABI-collaborator Prof. Lori Eckhardt visited the Institute during August as part of the ongoing research collaboration between FABI and Auburn University.


19 Aug 2019

FABIan highlights challenges to tree-planting initiatives in Malawi in an opinion piece

The 16 August edition of The Nation, a popular daily newspaper in Malawi, includes an opinion piece written by Rachel Mkandawire, a PhD candidate at FABI.


16 Aug 2019

FABI says farewell to Runlei Chang

FABIans gathered to say farewell to Dr RunLei Chang who is returning to China to take up a teaching post at the Shandong Normal University, JiNan City in the ShanDong Province.


15 Aug 2019

West African Science Leadership Programme launched

FABI and Founding-Future Africa Director Prof. Bernard Slippers attended the inaugural West Africa Science Leadership Programme (W-ASLP) leadership training workshop held in Accra, Ghana from 21-23 July.


14 Aug 2019

FABIan invited to write SCION Forest Health news article

FABI PhD candidate Mandy Messal was invited by SCION researchers Mr Andrew Pugh and (former FABIan) Dr Stuart Fraser to write a news article for the monthly SCION Forest Health Newsletter (SCION, New Zealand).


13 Aug 2019

Prof Robin Crewe draws FABIans into the intricacies of bee colonies

Professor Robin Crewe, a world-renowned expert on bees, presented a special seminar on the behaviour of individual members of a bee colony at FABI on 7 August.


12 Aug 2019

CTHB Outreach team participates in another National Science Week

The DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB) Outreach Team in FABI geared up once again to participate in the 2019 National Science Week (NSW) which took place from 29 July to 2 August.


7 Aug 2019

A day-long visit to forests of Czech Republic with Prof. Libor Jankovsky

During his recent visit to Europe, Prof Mike Wingfield had the opportunity to meet with colleague Prof. Libor Jankowsky, Dean of Forestry at Mendel University in the Czech Republic.


6 Aug 2019

A brief forest pathology tour of south Estonia

As part of his participation in the 2019 International Forestry Students’ Symposium (IFSS), Prof. Mike Wingfield had the opportunity to visit forest pathology colleagues linked to the Estonian University of Life Sciences in Tartu.


5 Aug 2019

IUFRO President meets with international forestry students in Estonia

FABI Professor and IUFRO President Mike Wingfield participated in the first day of the two-week long International Forestry Student’s Symposium (IFSS) organised annually by the International Forestry Students’ Association (IFSA).


2 Aug 2019

FABI PhD candidate presents a special seminar on how Sirex noctilio sees colour

PhD candidate Quentin Guignard presented a special seminar on the visual system of the European woodwasp, Sirex noctilio, at FABI on 29 July.


1 Aug 2019

FABIans attend the 18th Congress on Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions (MPMI)

The biennial Congress on Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions (MPMI), hosted by the International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions took place from 14-18 July in Glasgow, Scotland.


30 Jul 2019

FABIans celebrate the prestige seminars of two cassava “musketeers”

FABIans celebrated two prestige seminars on 24 July. Both presentations cast the spotlight on challenges facing cassava-growing countries in Africa.


23 Jul 2019

Significant FABI presence at ESSA Congress

The 21st Congress of the Entomological Society of Southern Africa (ESSA) with the theme “Innovative Entomology” was held in Umhlanga in the KwaZulu-Natal Province from 8-11 July.


17 Jul 2019

FABIans celebrate Arista Fourie’s prestige seminar – the eighth in 2019

FABI congratulates Arista Fourie who fulfilled all the requirements for a PhD degree, the eighth FABIan to reach this milestone in 2019.


16 Jul 2019

Insects on the menu at the FABI Entomology Journal Club social

The Entomology Journal Club (EJC) in FABI is going strong with 25 enthusiastic members and record-breaking attendance at every meeting. This group of enthusiastic researchers meets once every two weeks and is always happy to welcome new members to discuss groundbreaking entomological research.


15 Jul 2019

Modelling Workshop hosted by FABI

FABI hosted a simulation modelling workshop led by two leaders in the field, Dr Serge Savary and Dr Laetitia Willocquet; both senior scientists at the AGIR Research unit of INRA’s Research Centre of Toulouse in France.