Modelling pest risks

The IVth International Pest Risk Modelling Workshop was held in Port Douglas from 23-25 August. The theme for this year’s workshop was ‘pest risk in a changing world’ and was attended by 29 delegates from eight countries. The workshop is an annual gathering of researchers and pest risk analysts who are interested in advancing methods for improving our ability to inform risk assessments for biosecurity.

In his keynote address, Professor Bob Sutherst from the University of Queensland provided a lively retrospective on pest risk modelling approaches. This year’s meeting follows on the heels of a recent publication in Bioscience of the groups’ roadmap for improvement of pest risk mapping. The group have now agreed to embark on the development of a practitioner’s guide, which would include a collation of techniques and approaches, as well as a gentle policymaker’s guide to the dark art of pest risk mapping. This guide will be a multi-authored affair, edited by CSIRO’s Dr Darren Kriticos.

 

Sponsorship from the CRC for National Plant Biosecurity, Horticulture Australia and Hearne Scientific Software allowed the meeting to sponsor the attendance of Ni Wenlong from the Chinese Agricultural University. Wenlong is undertaking postgraduate studies on assessing the pest risk due to fruit flies under current and future climates, and is using CRC products developed from our Climate Change project. At the meeting he presented some of his work on the Peach fruit fly. In the immediate term, his research could help Australia understand one of the pest threats posed to peach growers.

 

The CRC donated a leather-bound compendium to the best presentation and best poster at the workshop. The awards were nominated by the attendees and the best presentation was awarded to Dr Ross Weiss of Agriculture and Agrifood Canada, and the best poster was given to Dr Libby Pinkard. Hearne Scientific Software donated a copy of CLIMEX for a lucky draw, which was won by Dr Sue Worner of Lincoln University.

 

The next meeting is being planned for Fort Collins around August 2011, where we expect to be able to celebrate the completion of the Practitioner’s Guide.