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PRESS RELEASE 7 March 2022
Insects in a warming world
Professor Camille Parmesan, leading researcher into how life on earth is affected by climate change, has given the Royal Entomological Society’s prestigious Verrall Lecture this year.
Professor Parmesan is Coordinating Lead Author for Working Group II of the 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and has spent the last four years looking at the impacts of global warming.
The lecture came just days after the publication of the IPCC Report and focused on how insects have been affected by our changing climate and the forecast for the future of this crucially important group of animals.
“The window of opportunity to limiting global warming is small and rapidly shrinking but there are still options” – Professor Parmesan.
Despite the clear severity and urgency of the IPCC report’s conclusions, Professor Parmesan showed that there were still clear opportunities for action and hope.
Professor Parmesan also delivered a version of her lecture for younger scientists aged 11-16, organised by the Royal Entomological Society with the Amateur Entomologists Society.
Both versions of the lecture showed the audiences how insect research is a vital component of understanding life on earth.
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Notes to Editors
For more information about this news release, contact RES Director of Communications and Engagement Luke Tilley on +44(0)7912180844 or email press@royensoc.co.uk
About Professor Camille Parmesan
Camille Parmesan is Director of Research at the CNRS Station for Experimental and Theoretical Ecology (SETE, in Moulis, France) as a French “Make Our Planet Great Again” Laureate. Her research focuses on the impacts of climate change on wild plants and animals and spans from field-based work on butterflies to synthetic analyses of global impacts on a broad range of species across terrestrial and marine biomes. She has also authored numerous assessments of impacts of climate change on agricultural pests and on human health, through changes in disease risk. Her 2003 paper in Nature was ranked the most highly cited paper in Climate Change (Carbon Brief, 2015). Her scientific awards include being the 2nd highest-cited author in “climate change” (T Reuters) and being named the “2013 Distinguished Scientist” by Texas Academy of Sciences. She has been elected Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences, Fellow of the Ecological Society of America and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society. She received the Conservation Achievement Award by the National Wildlife Federation and was named “Outstanding Woman Working on Climate Change,” by IUCN. She has worked with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for >20 years, and is an official Contributor to IPCC’s Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. She is currently a Coordinating Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th Assessment Report. She also has affiliations with the University of Plymouth (UK) and the University of Texas at Austin (USA).
About the Royal Entomological Society (RES)
The Society unites experts across the globe to share and preserve knowledge about insects while engaging diverse audiences. It invests in meaningful insect science to benefit people and nature.
Founded in 1833, the RES supports entomology, the study of insects through its international scientific journals and other publications, scientific meetings and by providing a forum for disseminating research findings, such as its prestigious Verrall Lecture Series https://www.royensoc.co.uk/verrall-lecture/
The Society has a grants, awards and bursaries programme to support entomologists whether they are professionals, experts, students or enthusiasts. The Society also funds, organises and supports events and activities for anyone who wants to learn more about insects and entomology through its outreach and education programmes. For more information visit www.royensoc.co.uk
