The New Zealand Society of Plant Biologists Michael McManus Award for the Best Student Paper is made in honour of Professor Michael McManus, who was an inspirational teacher, supervisor, and mentor. The award recognises the fantastic research by our student members, focussing on a published paper. The 2023 winner is Dr Dinum Herath, for his paper “CRISPR-Cas9-mediated mutagenesis of kiwifruit BFT genes results in an evergrowing but not early flowering phenotype” published in the prestigious Plant Biotechnology Journal. This research formed part of his PhD studies at University of Auckland and Plant & Food Research. Dinum presented his research at Plant Science Central held at Massey University July 4-5 where he was presented the award.
