Dr Al Glen and Dr Manpreet Dhami
Dr Al Glen and Dr Manpreet Dhami
Al Glen and Manpreet Dhami have been appointed to the School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland within the Joint Graduate School in Biodiversity and Biosecurity. These co-appointments mainly involve supervising postgraduate students. Al and Manpreet will also continue in their existing roles with Manaaki Whenua.
Dr Peter Johnston
Dr Peter Johnston
Peter Johnston was unanimously elected to receive the Mycological Society of America’s (MSA) Honorary Member Award, which is awarded annually to a distinguished senior scientist with significant contributions to fungal biology. This award was established in 1951 and has been awarded to an elite group of fewer than 60 mycologists by the Honorary Awards Committee of the MSA. For decades, Peter has been a primary force in developing a well-regarded mycology programme in New Zealand and has contributed greatly to the field of mycology through his outstanding research publications, his active participation in international organisations such as the International Commission for the Taxonomy of Fungi, and his kind hospitality to the numerous mycologists who have visited and collected fungi in New Zealand. He has been an advocate for fungal taxonomy and diversity studies promoting the study of indigenous fungi and protecting New Zealand against fungi that might be introduced. Peter is the first New Zealand mycologist to be honoured with this award.
Dr Paul Mudge
Dr Paul Mudge
Manaaki Whenua’s Paul Mudge recently gave an overview of research underway in New Zealand around climate change mitigation to Ireland’s Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue. The presentation highlighted the collaborative nature of research in this area between the CRIs and universities. Potential opportunities exist for collaboration between Manaaki Whenua and Ireland in relation to paddock-scale measurements of carbon and greenhouse gas balances using the eddy covariance technique – a key atmospheric measurement technique to directly observe the exchanges of gas, energy, and momentum between ecosystems and the atmosphere.