Thom Batari demonstrating the beetle dissection technique to Benoit Burel at Dami
Dr Mark Ero and Benoit Burel attending virus dose training provided by AgResearch NZ to BSI and GPPOL staff at Henderson, Solomon Islands
Mr Benoit Burel joined PNGOPRA under the Guam biotype Oryctes rhinoceros beetle (CRB-G) management project on the 6th of May 2018. He is one of the three scientists recruited under the project and his main role will be to search for an effective virus strain against CRB-G. The search efforts will be concentrated within he South East Asian region started with the Philippines. He spent two weeks each at Dami (PNG) and GPPOL (Solomon Islands) getting exposure to the pest, damage symptoms and control efforts before travelling to the Philippines.