We are delighted to be hosting Ento25 in the city of Glasgow and would like to thank the Ento Convenors for their meticulous programme planning and support. Our Convenors represent four institutions across Scotland: The University of Edinburgh, The James Hutton Institute, Dundee, The University of Glasgow and SASA (Science & Advice for Scottish Agriculture), Edinburgh.
Mauro Pazmino Betancourth | University of Glasgow
Mauro Pazmino Betancourth is a research associate at the School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine of the University of Glasgow. His research focuses on the use of new technologies for vector surveillance, specifically infrared spectroscopy with Artificial Intelligence to predict biological traits in different disease vectors to improve vector control programs.
He is also interested in the role of temperature and humidity in mosquito ageing processes and how extreme environmental events impacts mosquito ageing rate, physiology and cuticle composition.
The University of Glasgow has been changing the world since 1451. It is a world top 100 university and a member of the prestigious Russell Group of leading UK research universities. The School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine conducts world-changing research in the fields of animal health, biodiversity and the environment
Fiona Highet | SASA (Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture)
Fiona Highet is the Head of Virology and Zoology and Senior Entomologist at Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA). Fiona has been part of the Rothamsted-led insect survey for over 25 years, monitoring aphid populations across Scotland from SASA’s four fixed 12.2m traps; the first of which was established in the 1960s. This work contributes to research and advises growers on virus risk to crops in real time.
Fiona’s research and scientific advisory work also covers honey bee health, invasive species, and emerging threats to agriculture and the environment.
SASA is part of the Scottish Government, whose community of 100+ scientists and support staff provide scientific services and advice in support of Scotland’s agriculture and wider environment. The original Scottish ‘seed testing and seed potato classification’ station was established in 1914, moving to the current laboratory and farm facilities just outside of Edinburgh in 2006.
Gail Jackson | University of Edinburgh
Gail Jackson is a Senior Lecturer in Ecological and Environmental Sciences in the School of GeoSciences at the University of Edinburgh. She is an agroecologist, particularly interested in ecologically based management strategies designed to increase agricultural sustainability. A particular focus is methods to enhance beneficial insect populations for both pollination and pest management services.
Current pollination research is investigating the management of farmland hedgerows and field margins to enhance the floral resources available for pollinators. Further work investigating potential competition between managed honey bees and wild bees in the agri-environment is ongoing. In pest management, she studies how carabid beetles respond to sustainable farming practices, and how wildflower margins and intercropping may help maintain in-field parasitoid wasp populations.
The School of Geosciences conducts world-leading research and teaching. Its work addresses critical global challenges such as climate change, sustainability, natural hazards, and energy transition. The School informs policy, advances scientific understanding, and trains future experts to tackle environmental and societal issues at local and global scales.
Ali Karley | The James Hutton Institute
Ali(son) Karley is an agroecologist and the Head of the Ecological Sciences Department at the James Hutton Institute. Although starting life as a plant physiologist, Ali was enticed into plant-insect interactions early in her research career, studying top-down and bottom-up processes influencing aphid population dynamics.
Now, she collaborates across scientific disciplines and stakeholders to develop, test and deploy practices that diversify crop systems, with the aim of improving insect pest control, reducing inputs and encouraging natural enemies.
The James Hutton Institute, formed in 2011 from the merger of the Scottish Crop Research Institute and the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, is a world leading independent scientific research organisation. Our pioneering science innovates and finds solutions for the challenges posed by the climate and nature crises on the sustainability and resilience of our crops, land, natural resources and communities. The breadth of our expertise in ecology, molecular biology, bioinformatics, socioeconomics and modelling, and our extensive glasshouse, field and farm facilities, allow us to tackle entomology research questions from lab to field and landscape scales.
