The Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI) at the University of Pretoria (UP) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with specialised service provider Cropwatch Africa.
Alisa Postma, a PhD candidate in FABI and a research assistant at the Centre for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, relates her experiences of working from home during lockdown. As we pass the (planned) halfway mark of our lockdown period in South Africa, I find myself making mental lists of what to do when I get my freedom back. That being said, finding a work-life balance with none of the external help I usually depend on has not been easy.
Three Fabians rushed to do obtain the final results of a one year long inoculation trial with the PSHB fungus on pecans before the COVID-19 lockdown.
FABIans Professors Brenda and Mike Wingfield are on lock down in their home in Brooklyn, Pretoria. Brenda shares some of her thoughts on this unexpected twist in their lives.
Dr Seonju Marincowitz is a mycologist and curator of the FABI Culture collection. Here are some of her thoughts on working from home during the lockdown period
FABI research Fellow Dr Neriman Yilmaz shares with us her thoughts on working from home, like so many other FABIans, during the CoViD-19 lockdown.
In 2017, a collaborative project was developed with the aim of understanding the distribution and genetic diversity of Eucalyptus insect pests and their natural enemies in sub-Saharan Africa.
Professor Jeremy Allison (Extraordinary Professor in FABI at UP) joined Luki-Marie Scheepers, Josephine Queffelec, Elisa Pal and Quentin Guignard on a field trip to Underberg, near the Drakensberg from 2-4 March.
A small group of FABI researchers assisted in an “emergency transplant” of a consignment of pine tree seedlings on 20 March. It is imperative that these seedlings were replanted as they would not otherwise survive in the trays and it would be a significant setback for the project if they died.
Thursday morning seminars (TMS) continued on 19 March, albeit now from the FABI boardroom and using video conferencing.
FABI hosted a visit by two research and development specialists from the Brazilian-based forestry company Suzano Pulp and Paper. During their visit to FABI on 12 March, the visitors participated in a round table discussion including FABI Director Prof.
FABI handed out long service certificates to 25 staff members at the Monday morning meeting on 16 March.
FABI has officially launched an Applied Chemical Ecology satellite laboratory and research programme in co-operation with Natural Resources Canada. The group’s research interests lie at the interface of behavioral chemical ecology and pest management.
The Manager of the Centre for Synthetic Biology and Precision Medicine at the CSIR, Dr Deepak Balaji Thimiri Govinda Raj invited FABIans to collaborate with the Centre’s researchers during a presentation at the Monday Morning Meeting.
FABI Research Fellow, Dr.
The DSI-NRF Centre for Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB) in FABI welcomed 10 interns on 2 March.
The CTHB Outreach Team at FABI hosted “Meet the scientists” information sessions for undergraduate students at the University of Pretoria on 26 and 27 February.
Macadamia Protection Programme research group leader, Dr Gerda Fourie, PhD candidate Angel Maduke and MSc student Ashleigh Smith visited research collaborators Prof. Andre Drenth and Prof. Femi Akinsanmi from the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) at the University of Queensland in Brisbane Australia, from 15-29 February.
In observing the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH), the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Pretoria hosted a seminar series on plant health and food safety at the FABI Auditorium on 2 March. Prof.
Twenty undergraduate students will gain hands-on scientific research experience as mentees in the CTHB Mentorship Programme.
FABI celebrated the first publications in an ISI-rated scientific journal of four FABI postgraduate students in the TPCP and CTHB groups at a gathering on 27 February. Publications: Katumanyane A. Messal M. van Wyk S. Lynn K.
During the past week, FABI founding Director Prof. Mike Wingfield began the substantial task of sorting through his extensive 35mm slide archive housed at the Institute.
The Hans Merensky Chair in Avocado Research has been established at FABI within the Avocado Research Programme (ARP).
The research team in FABI that works with bark and ambrosia beetles, are currently part of an international collaborative project with American peers, funded jointly by die National Research Foundation (NRF) and National Science Foundation (NSF).
The University of Pretoria’s newly-appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) Sandile Mthiyane was welcomed to the FABI Monday morning meeting by Director Prof.
The Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP) in FABI hosted a “Data Jamboree” on 7 February that saw 44 students in the research programme spend the day capturing historical data from the disease clinic.
Three FABIans, Dr Neriman Yilmaz, Dr Felix Fru and Claudette Dewing attended the two-day MycoSafe-South workshop hosted by the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in collaboration with Ghent University (GU) in Belgium, from 13-14 February.
Dr Gerda Fourie, leader of the Macadamia Protection Programme at FABI along with postdoctoral Fellow Dr Arista Fourie, PhD candidate Angel Maduke and MSc students Ashleigh Smith, Dee Twiddy and Byron Sonnekus, recently visited various Macadamia growers in the Mpumalanga Province to conduct disease consultations, sample diseased material for new and on-going research projects and plan future field experiments.
In January 2020, Prof. Brett Hurley and Dr Nicolas Kagimu visited Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.
Two FABIans have each earned a spot in the FameLab SA contest and they stand a chance to represent South Africa in the FameLab International finals in the United Kingdom.
FABI congratulates Robert Backer who marked the milestone of completing his PhD study with a prestige seminar on 6 February.
Edgar Mangwende celebrated the milestone of completing his PhD study with a seminar at the Plant Sciences Complex Auditorium on 4 February.
FABI PhD graduate Dr Elrea Strydom was awarded the Protein Research Foundation’s “Best PhD Award of the Year 2018” at a ceremony at their head office in Woodmead, Johannesburg on 30 January.
Congratulations to Jan Nagel on completing all the requirements for his PhD, becoming the second FABIan in as many days to achieve this milestone.
FABI would like to congratulate Joey Hulbert on becoming the first FABIan to successfully fulfill all requirements for completion of their PhD in 2020.
Forty eight students from the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP) in FABI braved cool, wet and muddy conditions on the morning of 24 January to replant 1,500 seedlings into potting bags.