My name is Felipe Balocchi and I´m a PhD student at FABI. I completed my undergraduate carrer, Plant biotechnology engineering, and a Msc in Forestry sciences in Chile at the University of Concepción working at the Forest pathology Lab. The main topic of my investigations at first was biological control of weeds, and after finishing my studies I worked for three years at a university project in diagnosis of known and new diseases of cultivated and native trees in Chile. During this period a new disease was discovered occurring to araucaria trees (Araucaria araucana), one of the symbolic native species in Chile (which is endemic to the Chilean and Argentinian mountan row) of which the causal agent is still unknown. So the main focus of my investigation is to discover and describe the causal agent(s) of the disease, how environment is affecting it and to look after control strategies that may mitigate the damage to the native forests where araucaria trees live.