14 August 2008 Success again for a Lincoln University graduate in MacDiarmid Young Scientists awards

For the second year in a row a Lincoln University doctoral graduate has achieved success in the country’s premier showcase of young science talent the MacDiarmid awards.

Dr Tripti Singh, who graduated PhD from Lincoln University in 2006 and now works as a Bioactive Research Team Leader for Crown Research Institute, Scion, in Rotorua, was runner-up in the Adding Value to Nature Category of the 2008 MacDiarmid Young Scientists of the Year Awards, announced last night (14 August).

This is the same category won by Lincoln University’s Dr Marco Jacometti in 2007.

Dr Singh’s doctoral research, carried out through the Bio- Protection Research Centre and supervised by Professor Alison Stewart,  concerned understanding the action of a common fungicide, Methylene Bis Thiocyanate (MBT), on wood degrading fungi of pinus radiata.

At Scion she has developed an environmentally friendly treatment for an infection  -  blue stain fungi  -  that causes multi-million dollar losses for the forestry industry through discolouring pine logs after harvest and on route to export markets.

Field trials of the technology are under way and Scion is talking to potential partners about commercialising the treatment. Traditional protection methods are toxic with synthetic chemicals having negative implications for the environment and human health. Part of Dr Singh’s treatment process involves material originating as a natural compound found in waste product from fish processing.

Originally from India, Dr Singh  came to New Zealand 13 years ago.

In addition to an overall Supreme award, there are five categories in the MacDiarmid awards plus a specific Masters research section. 

Ian Collins, Communications Group, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand.