News

27 Nov 2017

Two FABIans attend the 7th International Barcode of Life Conference

During the past week, two FABIans gave oral presentations at the 7th International Barcode of Life Conference (iBOL 2017) in the Kruger National Park.

24 Nov 2017

Keep a lookout for these Eucalyptus pests

The Diagnostic Clinic of the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP) requests your assistance in keeping a lookout for two potential pest species of Eucalyptus on both commercial and ornamental trees in your area.

23 Nov 2017

Prof Bernard Slippers appointed as the new Director of FABI

The staff and students of FABI wish to congratulate Prof. Bernard Slippers who has been appointed as the new Director of FABI with effect from 1 January 2018.

22 Nov 2017

MSc student from Kenya on training visit to FABI

MSc student Dennis Omondi from Maseno University in Kenya visited MPPI, a FABI research group in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, for a month’s training in fungal pathology and molecular biology under the tutelage of PhD student David Nsibo.

22 Nov 2017

FABI hosts fungal genome annotation and comparison workshop

A fungal genome annotation and comparison workshop, organised by PhD candidate Arista Fourie, was held from 13-16 November at FABI.

18 Nov 2017

Italian forest pathologist visits FABI

Prof. Alberto Santini from the Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection, in the National Research Council of Italy visited FABI.

17 Nov 2017

FABIans celebrate another year of research excellence at the 2017 year-end gala dinner and awards ceremony

The 2017 FABI year-end gala dinner and awards ceremony marked 20 years since the founding of the Institute and an historic turning point in its future.

16 Nov 2017

Cape Citizen Science releases video about youth engagement in 2017

Cape Citizen Science is a FABI-led project, under the guidance of PhD candidate Joey Hulbert, supported by the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB) at the University of Pretoria, and Stellenbosch University.

15 Nov 2017

Advanced Phylogenetics Workshop presented at FABI

The 26th Advanced Phylogenetics Workshop was held from 6-10 November at FABI.

10 Nov 2017

FABIans attend an insect mass-rearing workshop

Dr Gerda Fourie, research leader of the Macadamia Protection Programme (MPP) and Dr Mesfin Gossa, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP) attended an Insect Mass-Rearing Workshop held from 23-27 October at Stellenbosch University.

10 Nov 2017

Senior research scientist from Finland visits FABI

Dr Henri Vanhanen, a senior research scientist at the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), visited FABI on 3 November 2017.

9 Nov 2017

Syngenta team visits FABI

The Syngenta Seeds Regulatory and Stewardship team from the Europe-Africa-Middle East (EAME) region visited FABI on 11 October to engage with the researchers regarding the genome mapping and genome editing research that is being performed by FABI.

8 Nov 2017

Assessing the security implications of genome editing technology

Two FABIans were among the travel award recipients to attend an International Workshop in Hannover, Germany.

6 Nov 2017

Argentinian Forest Pathologist visits FABI

FABI hosted a visit by Argentinian forest pathologist Sergio Ramos from the National Institute for Agricultural Technology (INTA) in Argentina.

1 Nov 2017

Insect pests of Eucalyptus in Rwanda

FABI researcher Dr Brett Hurley recently visited Rwanda, as part of a project funded by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

27 Oct 2017

CTHB honours participants of its outreach and mentorship programmes

The DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Tree Health in Biotechnology (CTHB) at the University of Pretoria hosted a lunch on 26 October to honour those who participated in its outreach and mentoring programmes during 2017.

26 Oct 2017

FABIans participate in Santa Shoebox Project: Share the joy of giving

A small group of FABIans from the Shaw Lab decided to ensure that eight underprivileged children receive a Christmas gift in the form of a Santa Shoebox.

25 Oct 2017

International Insect Rearing Workshop

A Research Assistant and postgraduate student at the FABI Biocontrol Facility, Samantha Bush, attended the 20th International Insect Rearing Workshop at Mississippi State University, Starkville, USA, from 1-5 October.

23 Oct 2017

PSANA SPCA drive

PSANA, the Postgraduate Students Association for the Natural and Agricultural Sciences, recently launched a Community Service Portfolio in an effort to help the greater Pretoria community.

20 Oct 2017

FABI hosts Lesotho Biosafety Committee visit

Dr Sanushka Naidoo and Mrs Adri Veale hosted the Lesotho National Biosafety Coordinating Committee on a visit to FABI.

19 Oct 2017

FABIan selected as ASPB Plantae Fellow

Danielle Roodt, a PhD student in FABI, has been selected to become a Plantae Fellow for the 2017-2018 period; the only African representative among a group of 35 scientists. Annually, Plantae selects scientists, spanning from graduate to Professor level, to aid in keeping the platform interactive and up to date, and to share what they are reading with a global community.

18 Oct 2017

FABIans present at the Plant Genome Evolution Conference

The fourth Plant Genome Evolution (PGEV) Conference, a Current Opinion in Plant Biology conference held every two years, took place in Sitges, south of Barcelona, Spain from 1-3 October.

13 Oct 2017

FABI Biennial Report available online

The FABI Biennial Report 2015-2017 is now available online and can be downloaded here (add url). The report summarizes the research activities, publications, as well as staff and students achievements of the all the research groups in the Institute over the past two years.

12 Oct 2017

FABI Research Fellow visits CERC

FABI Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Dr Janneke Aylward, visited the China Eucalypt Research Centre (CERC) in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, China, from 24-27 September.

6 Oct 2017

Jolanda Roux receives Havenga Prize

Prof. Jolanda Roux, an associate professor in FABI, has been awarded the prestigious Havenga Prize for Natural Sciences by the Suid Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (South African Academy for Arts and Science) at a ceremony on 29 September.

5 Oct 2017

FABI shines at the IUFRO Anniversary Congress

A large contingent of FABI and other South African forestry research scientists and postgraduate students attended the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations’ 125th Anniversary Congress held from 18-22 September in Freiburg, Germany. IUFRO President and FABI Director Prof Mike Wingfield was joined by 11 fellow FABIans along with eight other South Africa representatives. The five-day conference drew 1,348 oral and 454 poster presentations by more than 2,000 attendees to the congress. Posters: Arriagada-Cares D. De Vos L, M. Gevers C. Granados G. Hulbert, J. Pham N. Santana Q. Vivas M. Session Presentations: Chirwa P. Hurley B. Jami F. Naidoo S. Pavlic-Zupanc D. FABIans organised two discussion sessions: Dr Brett Hurley. Joey Hulbert. Dr Irene Barnes chaired a session “Dothistroma and other needle diseases of pine”.

4 Oct 2017

FABIANs attend International Symposium on Biological Control

Drs Brett Hurley and Michelle Schröder attended the 5th International Symposium on Biological Control of Arthropods (ISBCA), held in Langkawi, Malaysia from 11-15 September. The session topics included aspects of accidental introduction of biocontrol agents, pre- and post-release genetics, Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) policy, and successes and uptake of biocontrol in developing countries. Presentations from FABI included: Dr Brett Hurley – Investigating the complex gall community of Leptocybe invasa. Dr Michelle Schröder – Biological control of the Gonipterus scutellatus species complex: testing the species, climatic and phonological mismatch hypotheses In addition, a poster was submitted by Samantha Bush, titled ‘Host specificity testing of Psyllaephagus bliteus, an accepted biocontrol agent of Glycaspis brimblecombei, reveals a new host. Samantha’s poster, which was from her MSc work, won the Best Poster Award – congratulations Samantha!

4 Oct 2017

FABI student leads international session at IUFRO Congress

FABI PhD student Joey Hulbert organised a session titled ‘Early detection and monitoring of invasive forest pests and pathogens with citizen science’ at the IUFRO 125th Anniversary Congress in Freiburg Germany.

3 Oct 2017

Professor Mike Wingfield receives the Chinese Government Friendship Award

Professor Mike Wingfield, Director of FABI and President of IUFRO visited Beijing during the weekend of 28 September where he received the Chinese Government Friendship Award for 2017. The award was presented to Mike to acknowledge his 20 years of collaboration with Chinese colleagues in the field of tree health. Mike’s visit to China also provided an opportunity to meet with various colleagues with close ties to IUFRO.

2 Oct 2017

IUFRO President’s Dinner celebrates 125 year history

IUFRO President Prof. Located on the historical Münsterplatz, the Kaufhaus’ scarlet façade is a landmark on the square. (Main group photo credit: Klaus Polkowski/IUFRO)

29 Sep 2017

IUFRO President addresses IFSA sub-plenary session on forestry

The International Forestry Students’ Association (IFSA) hosted a sub-plenary session titled “Our future forests” during the International Union of Forest Research Organization’s (IUFRO) 125th Anniversary Congress in Freiburg, Germany. The session included a panel discussion led by IFSA President Salina Abraham that debated what future forests will look like and how forestry education must adapt to address the changing needs of the future generations of researchers, many of whom are IFSA members.