Several members of the Rhizobial Research Group (Prof. Emma Steenkamp, Prof. Fanus Venter, Dr Chrizelle Beukes, Juanita Avontuur and Derick Claassens) joined Polish collaborators Prof. Tomasz Stępkowski, Joanna Banasiewicz and Rafał Banasiewicz on a sampling trip to Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal from 27-31 October.
Thirteen students who completed eight months of mentorship in the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology(CTHB) received their certificates of completion on 1 November at a small ceremony in FABI.
University of Pretoria Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof. Tawana Kupe collected soil samples at the Future Africa campus on 30 October as part of a FABI-hosted Citizen Science project “Fungi for Future”.
The biennial meeting of the IUFRO’s Working Party 7.02.09 – ‘Phytophthorain Forests and Natural Ecosystems’ was held on the Italian island of Sardinia from 17-25 October 2019.
Five women led a discussion at FABI on the challenges faced by women in the biotechnology sector on 29 October.
Former Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Pretoria Professor Jean Lubuma joined FABIans at the Monday morning meeting on 28 October, giving them an opportunity to wish him well on his retirement.
Two FABI PhD candidates, Benedicta Swalarsk-Parry and Jane Ramaswe recently returned from a three-month exchange visit to Pennsylvania State University. The visit is part of a strategic partnership between the Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiologyin Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences and the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI) at the University of Pretoria.
The DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB) outreach team from FABI was involved in a ‘Fungi for Future’ initiative which forms part of their citizen science project.
On Friday 18 October, the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB) Outreach Team had the privilege of handing over five bicycles to learners from the N’wa-Vangani Primary School for their outstanding academic achievements.
The Plant Genome Evolution Conference is a biennial event and the 2019 meeting, which marked the fifth meeting, was held in Sitges (Barcelona), Spain.
FABI PhD candidate Joséphine Queffelec recently visited two research labs in Argentina to talk about insect ecology and reinforce the collaboration between FABI and other entomology and forestry research labs.
This year FABI PhD candidate Joséphine Queffelec participated in this effort and helped to plant over 200 native trees on the snowy slopes of the Patagonian mountains.
Professor Sylwia Wdowiak-Wróbel and Dr Michał Kalita, researchers from the University of Maria Curie - Skłodowska (UMCS) in Lublin, Poland visited FABI on 1 October.
The University of Pretoria observed Anti-Discrimination and Social Justice Week from 30 September to 4 October. FABI hosted the first in a series of events organised by the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences in recognition of this campaign.
On Tuesday, September 17, the African Centre for Gene Technologies (ACGT), Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI) and Future Africa co-hosted a Plant Phenotyping and Precision Agriculture workshop at Future Africa on the University of Pretoria's Hillcrest Campus.
Work at FABI in the area of applied chemical ecology for insect pest management and monitoring continues to grow.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
On 28 August, the CERC-FABI Tree Protection Programme members (CFTPP) team, visited the Chinese Embassy in Pretoria.
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.
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!
Professor Martin Coetzee attended the 87th meeting of the Mycological Society of America (MSA) from 10-14 August in Minneapolis, USA.
FABI was prominent at AgriCAREERSConnect, an interactive careers fair at the University of Pretoria’s Future Africa Campus on 5 September.
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.
Professor Brenda Wingfield had the privilege of attending the MPI Fungal Symposium in Plön, Germany from 2-4 September.
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.
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.
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.
Long-time FABI-collaborator Prof. Lori Eckhardt visited the Institute during August as part of the ongoing research collaboration between FABI and Auburn University.
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.