Thursday 18 July
Online, 09:15 – 16:00 (BST)

Join our Aphids Special Interest Group (SIG) at their next meeting, taking place online. The Aphids group encourages students of all ages, practitioners, amateurs and academics, and anyone with an interest in this group of fascinating and important insects.

This online meeting aims to highlight current aphid research in the UK and internationally as well as providing an opportunity to generate discussion and engagement. The meeting will include a series of short presentations as well as well as quick-fire aphid updates.

The meeting will be divided into sessions that reflect the diversity of aphid research. Topics that are welcomed, include, but are not limited to:

• Aphid biology
• Aphid ecology
• Aphid taxonomy
• Aphid pest management

Keynote speakers

We are delighted to announce some of the keynote speakers for this event. Details of the additional keynote speakers will be announced soon.

James Bell
Keele University

Talk title: Virus yellows’ in sugar beet: is there a technological solution for early detection before leaves yellow?

James holds a unique position in that he works on agricultural pests and insect conservation, providing a balanced insight into how terrestrial ecosystems should be managed. He is the Rothamsted lead for the NERC funded Drivers and Repercussions of UK Insect Declines (DRUID) project that is tasked with examining evidence for insect population change across a broad range of taxa. Pest management and vector-borne pathogen research, largely focused on aphids, remains an active research interest. James was recently appointed Keele’s Professor of Entomology. Previously, he was Head of the Rothamsted Insect Survey.

Mariska Beekman
Wageningen University & Research

Talk title: Attack of the clones – how one genotype of Myzus persicae took over the Dutch sweet pepper glasshouses

Mariska studied biology at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) in the Netherlands. During her bachelor’s, while doing a project with Koppert Biological Systems, she first encountered the fascinating world of aphids and their secondary endosymbionts. After completing her master’s, she worked a few years as a laboratory technician at both the UvA and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam before pursuing her PhD at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. During her doctoral studies, Mariska researched various forms of resistance, including endosymbiont-based and endogenously encoded resistance, in commercial glasshouse aphid pests, examining their response to both conventional and organic pest control methods.

Dave Chandler
Warwick University

Talk title: An IPM strategy for aphid control on brassica plants combining partial host plant resistance and biologically based controls

Dave Chandler is a microbiologist and entomologist working at Warwick University’s School of Life Sciences and at the Warwick Crop Centre, Wellesbourne Warwickshire. He conducts research into invertebrate microbial interactions. His main areas of interest are: entomopathogens and microbial pest control; honeybee health; ecology and physiology of entomopathogenic fungi; biopesticide regulation and governance; and Integrated Pest Management. He has worked at Wellesbourne since 1990. Previous to this, he studied for a bachelor degree in biology at the University of Nottingham, followed by a PhD in mycology at Kings College London.  His work covers both basic and applied science. He has been an adviser on IPM to the European Parliament and the US Department of Agriculture.

Programme

The full programme can now be viewed below.

Abstract submission

Abstract submission is now closed.

Registration

Registration is now open at the bottom of this page. Please note there are discounted rates for members of the RES, so if you are not a member already, consider joining today!

To access discounted member rates, you must be logged into your account before registering.

Registration deadline: 17:00 (BST), Monday 15 July

SIG convenors

• Joe Roberts, Harper Adams University
• Tom Pope, Harper Adams University