• https://www.balticforestry.mi.lt/bf/PDF_Articles/2017-23%5B1%5D/Baltic%20Forestry%202017.1_279-293.pdf
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335339699_Sampling_and_Detection_Strategies_for_the_Pine_Pitch_Canker_PPC_Disease_Pathogen_Fusarium_circinatum_in_Europe?enrichId=rgreq-b11b2b34c311c5442f0b6e4

I am a post-doctoral research fellow at FABI, an institute of the University of Pretoria, South Africa. 

My post-doctoral research is about exploiting the genetic variation that exists between nursery and establishment populations of F. circinatum in South Africa. I am also developing a root inoculation assay that can be used to screen for resistance to the pitch canker fungus in pine trees. 

My attraction to this area of research was motivated by my interest in food trade, particularly on the African continent. Trade from Africa is greatly hampered by various barriers. Non-tariff trade barriers which are greatly influenced by pests and pathogens are a serious problem for farmers in Africa. The problem of pests and pathogens are not limited to food crops, but also in the forest trees.

My PhD study focused on the pitch canker fungus, Fusarium circinatum, a pathogen affecting pine trees globally. I studied the ecology and population genetics of this pathogen in nurseries as well as plantations in the summer rainfall regions of South Africa. I was able confirm the presence of pitch canker disease in two new regions of the country, namely the Karkloof region in the KwaZulu-Natal Province and the Soutpansberg region of the Limpopo Province. In the Karkloof, the disease was found on P. greggii trees. Of significant concern is the report from the Limpopo Province on P. patula, representing the first report of the disease on plantation trees of this species globally. I was able to demonstrate that plantation outbreaks of this disease were caused by a few highly frequent genotypes. Using a machine learning model MAXENT, it was predicted that most plantation growing regions are suitable for pitch canker development.

I worked on Ceratocystis species on timber harvested for export in Ghana for my Masters degree. Using morphological and molecular techniques, I was able to demonstrate that Ceratocystis fagacearum, native to north America, is also common on native trees in Ghana.