Home16 August 2022
Bioprotection Aotearoa would like to congratulate New Zealand Plant Protection Society which reached a significant milestone by celebrating its 75th annual conference. This was preceded by a one-day symposium, on the theme, plants, and pathogens that keep us awake: past, present, and future threats to native species.
Held at the Christchurch Town Hall, some of our world-class academics and early career researchers from Bioprotection Aotearoa, took to the podium to share their work.
Alexa Byers, a postdoctoral fellow based at Lincoln University presented her PhD research, looking at soil health, and the anti-microbial potential of the kauri soil microbiome against kauri dieback.
“This was the first in-person conference I have attended since before Covid, so the highlight for me was catching up with other New Zealand scientists outside of my research institution again,” Alexa says.
Based at Plant & Food Research, Nicola Sullivan is a Master’s student aligned with Bioprotection Aotearoa. She also presented her Master’s research looking at spider biodiversity in crop ecosystems. Nicola says a highlight was “to hear several Māori researchers presentations and presenters talking about practical impacts of their research for communities.”
For one of our students, this was the first industry-based event they had attended. Alexandra Cox, a Master’s student at the University of Canterbury says attending the symposium was an eye-opening experience, particularly around the biosecurity space.
“I enjoyed the community aspect of meeting people from Bioprotection Aotearoa face to face. I did not realise how far-reaching Bioprotection Aotearoa was, and that it covered so many disciplines”
As the next generation of Bioprotection leaders, attending symposiums and conferences such as this, offer great experiences and networking opportunities for our early career researchers to advance themselves as active contributors in their field of research.
View our current cohort who are well on their way to become the next generation of bioprotection leaders.
