Trustee Election 2024 – Have your say!

Arsalan Ahmad

I would like to engage my passion, skills, and expertise (including engaging in several online and offline seminars and conferences) with RES, as I am passionate about insects.

I have skills in programming and graphic design. I worked as an awareness volunteer in the “Zero Hunger Campaign” by TFC.

Hayley Jones

It would be a joy to serve the Royal Entomological Society as a Trustee and Chair of the Outreach Committee. As a trustee, I would contribute my skills, energy and enthusiasm to help the committee and society achieve our goals for the 2025 strategy and beyond.

I work as Principal Entomologist at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), leading a team of entomologists to provide a diagnostic service to RHS members and carry out research on range of garden invertebrates. In this position at a nation-wide gardening charity and based at Wisley garden which welcomes around 1 million visitors a year, I have had many opportunities to develop my knowledge and skills for effective communication, outreach and engagement. My speciality is developing resources and activities for young people, a skill fortified by twenty years of experience volunteering with Girlguiding UK as a Brownie and Guide leader. In 2022 I combined my entomology and guiding roles to create the ‘Incredible Insects’ challenge badge, which has since been completed by more than two thousand young people.

I have been a member of the Royal Entomological Society for 15 years, and a member of the Outreach committee for five, and it has been a pleasure to see the Society grow and advance in that time. The RES has provided a wealth of insight, experience and entomological connections for me as a student and into my career, now I hope to provide more opportunities and inspiration for the entomologists of the future. 

Michael Bonsall

I am an enthusiastic entomologist, academic and scientist.

I am passionate about how cool insects are, their biology, ecology and evolution. I am committed to the dissemination of insect science, providing support in broadening the reach, interpretation and knowledge of entomology, and promote progressive and inclusive approaches to entomology. I am a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society: I have been insect ecology special interest group lead, a subject editor for Ecological Entomology, and I am, currently, a member of finance committee.

I run a diverse research group in Biology at the University of Oxford with a focus on ecology and evolution. With senior management roles, in Oxford, within the Biology department (finance lead), across the Science Division (also finance lead) and as a trustee of an Oxford college, I will bring experience of academic leadership, understanding of the legal duties as a trustee and the ability to act with integrity, care and diplomacy to this trustee role.

I am a strong proponent for evidence-based policy and decision making. I have experience in science policy and, particularly, the policy, regulations ang guidance around insect genetics-based biotechnology and biosecurity. At a national level, I have served as special advisor to the House of Lords Science and Technology committee on insect biotechnology and served on DEFRA’s advisory committee on (genetically modified, GM) releases to the environment. Internationally, I have worked with the WHO, FNIH, the European Food Safety Authority and the Canadian Council of Academies on science policy and guidance for risk assessment around biodiversity, insects as food and feed and GM insect technologies.

With my enthusiasm, expertise and background, I am excited to serve as a Trustee, work as chair of the science, policy and society committee and be an active member of the council of the Royal Entomological Society.

Sahayaraj Kitherian

I have 31 and 34 years of experience, respectively, as a teacher and researcher. Teaching graduate students and doctoral scholars the fundamentals and practicals of entomology is my main responsibility. As a researcher, I mostly study the preservation and production of sustainable food. My main goal is to use my findings to benefit farmers. Farmers’ natural agroecosystems have been trained to use a variety of technologies. The majority of the training given to female farmers focused on the collection, preparation, application, and use of readily available native plants for pest control.

Undergraduate students also received training in the production of biopesticides. The manufacture and application of bio-nano-metal liquids in a pest management program was taught to faculty members. As the Secretary General of IOBC-APRS, I am involved in executive council meetings and make appropriate decisions on a variety of issues. I also prepare the minutes of these meetings, create policies for increasing subscription number, publish a newsletter and distribute it to members, solicit input from a range of sources, and make decisions based on that input. Participates in all activities sponsored by the Asian Phytopathological Society as a member of the Executive Council.

In my capacity as a trustee for the Entomological Society of London, I involved in make strategic policy decisions and make suggestions for seed grants, training programs, conferences, exchanges, and collaborative projects. I also support early career entomologists, students, and esteemed entomologists. Educating non-entomologists in developing and underdeveloped nations about the value of studying entomology and gaining knowledge about insects.