BIFoR Fourth Annual Meeting

10:45

Welcome, Prof Jeremy Pritchard, Director of Education for College of Life and Environmental Sciences and Director of BIFoR, University of Birmingham

11:00

Bacterial diseases of trees: exploring the challenges of studying them and improving tree health, Prof Rob Jackson, University of Birmingham, Chair of Tree Pathology  

Using coniferous resources from the BIFoR FACE facility to investigate the evolution of seed-plant reproduction, Dr Andrew Plackett, Royal Society University Research Fellow. University of Birmingham

Forests and the methane cycle, a global perspective, Prof Vincent Gauci, University of Birmingham

From plant conservation planning to implementation: a European perspective, Prof Nigel Maxted, Chair in Plant Genetic Conservation, University of Birmingham

Introduction to the Leverhulme Trust Doctoral Scholarship Scheme (DSP) Forest Edge, Dr Simon Dixon 

12:30 - 14:00

Poster session and lunch 

Hear about wider forest related research and of that coming through from our Forest Edge doctoral research programme now in its second year. Our doctoral researchers will be sharing their research covering a wide range of areas including forests & flooding & young people's experiences in urban woodlands.  

 14:00-15:30 

Key Note Speaker: Lynne Boddy – Cardiff University

Survival Of Acute Oak Decline Associated Bacteria, In Rainwater And Forest Soil Bethany Pettifor, Bangor University 

Mortality of young plantation oak in England: A multi-omic analysis of a serious bark disease, Andrew Griffiths, Bangor University 

Acute Oak Decline and the Oak Leaf Metagenome, Louise Gathercole,  RBG Kew and Queen Marys University London

Dendrochronology and AOD: looking for evidence of predisposition, Katy Reed, Forest Research 

Questions for the speakers 

15:30-16:00 

Refreshment break 

Exploiting the oak immune system for resistance against powdery mildew, Estrella Luna Diez, University of Birmingham, BIFoR 

Microbial life in the oak tree phyllosphere, Graeme Kettles, University of Birmingham, BIFoR  

Host-pathobiome-insect interactions in Acute Oak Decline, James McDonald, Bangor University   

Monitoring oak tree health using metabolomics, Jasen Finch, Aberystwyth University

Questions for the speakers

17:00

Conference closes

10:45

 11:00

Welcome, Prof Laura Green University of Birmingham

Key note: “Challenges and opportunities in assessment of forest response to elevated atmospheric CO₂”, Prof Richard Norby, Corporate Research Fellow, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Institute of Advanced Studies Distinguished visiting fellow at the University of Birmingham

Early results and information about the BIFoR FACE facility, Liam Crowley & Angeliki Kourmouli,, University of Birmingham

Assessing the effects of elevated CO₂ on fungal communities in a temperate forest, Aileen Baird, University of Birmingham

Xylem sapflow at BIFoR FACE: early results of tree-soil water relations 2017-2019, Sue Quick, University of Birmingham

Disentangling mechanisms of co-adaptation between trees and soil food webs in response to environmental pertubationas, Prof David Johnson, University of Manchester 

A representation of phosphorus cycle in Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES-PM), Dr Andre (Mahdi) Nakhavali, University of Exeter

13:00 - 14:30

Poster session and lunch  

Hear about wider forest related research and of that coming through from our Forest Edge doctoral research programme now in its second year. Our doctoral researchers will be sharing their research covering a wide range of areas including forests & flooding & young people's experiences in urban woodlands.  

The importance of long-term ecological experiments, Professor Jonathan Silvertown, Ecological Continuity Trust, University of Edinburgh

Quantifying long-term effects of free-air CO2 enrichment on the growth of temperate woodlands from terrestrial laser scans, Dr Eric Casella, Forest Research

If the wind blows in a forest, and no one's around to measure it, how does it move around? Edward Bannister, University of Birmingham

Active Distributed Temperature Sensing for spatio-temporal monitoring of soil moisture, Dr Giulio Curioni, University of Birmingham

Impact of elevated CO2 on leaf wax δ₁₃C, Bridget Warren, University of Birmingham

Tea and coffee break

16:30

Conference closes