Latest News

  • Biologically-based inoculants that reduce chemical use and save the forestry industry millions have earned Dr Robert Hill the 2010 Bayer Innovators Award for Agriculture and Environment  (announced 24 August 2010).

    Dr Hill, from the Bio-Protection Research Centre, Lincoln University, has worked on beneficial fungi for the forestry industry for many years. His research led to the development of ArborGuardTM, a Trichoderma-based inoculant which is now commonly used on cuttings and seedlings in New Zealand forest nurseries.

  • The United Nations declared 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity, and in early June Green Week 2010, the largest annual conference on European environmental policy turned the spotlight on this difficult issue.
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    Philip Hulme, Professor of Plant Biosecurity at the Bio-Protection Research Centre, was an invited speaker at Green Week 2010, contributing to a session on Invasive Species, which, he explains, are considered the second biggest threat to biodiversity on a global level, after habitat destruction and deterioration.

    "Invasive species are those that have been

  • Three areas of work from the Bio-Protection Research Centre featured on Radio New Zealand's Our Changing World Programme in February and March. They were:
    Prof Leo Condron and Stuart Larsen: The New Zealand Biotron
    Prof Alison Stewart: Developing Trichoderma-based products for enhanced crop and forage productivity
    Prof Steve Wratten: Greening Waipara - bringing biodiversity back into vineyards

  • The most comprehensive guide to New Zealand pasture diseases is now available from the Bio-Protection Research Centre.

    The 144 page book, Pasture Diseases in New Zealand, commissioned by the Centre and written and illustrated by Ian and Ben Harvey, was published in November.

  • The Bio-Protection Research Centre is pleased to welcome 10 Summer Scholars. 

    The students will be based at Lincoln, Massey and Auckland Universities and will begin their projects in mid-November. 

    Summer Scholarships provide talented students with the opportunity to spend time in a research environment contributing to on-going projects and to get paid doing it! Each 10-week scholarship is valued at $5000 (tax free).
  • Professor Alison Stewart, Director of the Bio-Protection Research Centre, received the Insignia of a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to biology, in particular plant pathology at an investiture ceremony at Larnach Castle on 8 September. She received her medal from the Governor General, the Hon Sir Anand Satyanand.

    The award recognises her work in developing microbial technologies that reduce plant disease and stimulate plant growth and the discovery of new genetic pathways in Trichoderma biocontrol agents.

  • The Bio-Protection Research Centre is offering 15 Summer Scholarships for research to be conducted during the 2009/2010 summer. These scholarships, worth $5,000 each, cover a range of bioprotection science topics from biological control to biodiesel, and provide undergraduate students with the opportunity to earn as they learn.


    Programme co-ordinator Professor Phil Hulme says the Bio-Protection Research Centre is a firm believer in the transfer of skills to students and in building future research capacity for New Zealand's land-based industries. 

  • New Zealand scientists are part of an international research group which has gained U.S. Department of Energy funding to sequence the genome of Dothistroma, the fungus that causes red band pine needle disease.

    Bio-Protection Research Centre scientist Dr Rosie Bradshaw from Massey University is part of the team which also includes researchers from North America and Europe. She says sequencing the Dothistroma genome will provide researchers with an increased understanding of the disease.
 
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