Entomological Society of America conference

Professor Geoff Gurr was invited to present a paper at the Entomological Society of America (ESA) conference in Nevada from 15-20 November 2008. This conference provided an excellent opportunity for Geoff to showcase his biosecurity related work and to interact with other leading biological control specialists, as it is the largest annual entomological meeting in the world. The topic of Geoff’s paper was the range of methods used to enhance the activity of natural enemies. This paper was presented in a session comprising of six speakers who covered various aspects of natural enemy enhancement. Many of the presentations had great relevance to the CRC60106: Fruit-Fly Parasitoid - PhD project. The session was also useful as it allowed leading biological control specialists to discuss different theories and methodologies currently being implemented in the field.

The information gained from the conference will help shape CRC60106: Fruit-Fly Parasitoid - PhD when it moves into testing optimal methods for mass release of fruit fly parasitoids. Geoff also had the opportunity to interact with other scientists involved in research regarding glassywinged sharp-shooter, a pest that received very high levels of research and development funding in the United States of America and is the subject of a second CRCNPB project that Geoff is involved with.