PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS

Professor Ken Wilson
     My research involves using epidemiological principles and life-history theory to explore the evolutionary interactions between parasites and their hosts, focussing particular attention on Lepidopteran larvae and their viral and fungal pathogens, especially in Africa; and the St. Kildan population of Soay sheep and their nematode parasites. We tackle these objectives via an inter-disciplinary approach and by applying a combination of methods, including: statistical and simulation modelling, comparative analyses, quantitative genetics methods, field experiments, and physiological assays.

I am Executive Editor of Journal of Animal Ecology. To submit a paper, follow this link.

See my homepage.

See my Publications on GSlogo



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Ken Wilson Zambia

Dr Rosa Menendez

     My research interests focus on the effects of environmental change (habitat fragmentation and climate change) on insect communities. My current research themes include: Potential impact of climate change on species altitudinal distributions (dung beetles in European mountains and in subtropical rainforest of Australia); the role of species interactions during climate-driven range expansion, both enemy-victim interactions (butterflies and their parasitoids) and competition (dung beetles); changes in community structure with climate warming (butterfly and dung beetle communities) and the subsequent consequences to ecosystem level processes (dung processing by dung beetles); metapopulation ecology (butterflies and moths). My approach is mainly field-based, and involves work both in UK and abroad.

See my homepage.

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Rosa Menendez
Dr Andy Wilby
     Primarily I am interested in the control of plant and invertebrate community structure and function in managed ecosystems. I have experience of a broad range of taxa in several ecosystems including hot deserts and tropical and temperate agro-ecosystems (Israel, Vietnam, Philippines, Côte D’Ivoire, Kenya, UK and Italy). Currently my research is focused on ecosystem service provision in agricultural ecosystems and how agricultural sustainability can be enhanced by biodiversity conservation. Currently, this research falls into several main themes: understanding the mechanisms underlying species diversity effects in arthropod predator communities; the impact of agricultural management and landscape structure on arthropod community structure and ecosystem service provision; provision of supplementary resources to enhance of biological pest control; trophic and non-trophic impacts of herbivores on plant community structure and function.

See my homepage.


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POST DOC FELLOWS

Dr Catherine Reavey
     I am interested in insect ecoimmunology and completed my PhD at Queen's University Belfast on the immune and reproductive strategies of burrying beetles under the supervision of Dr Sheena Cotter. I moved to Lancaster in 2014 to undertake a postdoc on the role of macronutrients in determining the outcome of host-pathogen interactions, using a caterpillar-bacterium model system.


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Dr Liz Nichols
     I am broadly interested in how land management decisions influence the interactions between free-living and parasitic biodiversity, and potentially result in trade-offs across health-related ecosystem services. Currently, I am investigating how environmental changes influence host-parasite dynamics in a tropical dung beetle-fecal helminth system in Brazil. My doctoral work at Columbia University focused on coupled biodiversity and functional responses to land-use change in tropical forests. Following my PhD, I have been a postdoctoral associate at Columbia University (supervisor Shahid Naeem) and lecturer at both the New School and Columbia Universities. I am currently National Science Foundation Fellow (2012-2014), based jointly at the iPEG (supervisor Ken Wilson), and the Universidade de São Paulo (supervisor Jean Paul Metzger). For more information visit here



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PHD STUDENTS




Aislinn Pearson (2012)
     I joined the iPEG team in 2012 after doing an MSc in Ecological Applications at Imperial. My particular area of interest is food security and the development of sustainable agriculture in African countries. Supervised by Prof Ken Wilson (LEC), Dr Jason Chapman (Rothamsted Research), and Dr Robert Graham (now at Harper Adams University), my PhD is looking at the migration and disease ecology of lepidopteran crop pests. Funding is provided by a BBSRC DTP in Food Security

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Aislinn Pearson
Stephanie Bryan (2012)
     I am currently working on a PhD in collaboration with Arcis Biotechnology Ltd on the environmental effects of a novel benign nematocide against plant parasitic nematodes.  I am looking into the effects of this product on the soil ecology and its potential impact on plant growth, supervised by Dr Mike Roberts and Prof Ken Wilson. The project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Centre for Global Eco-innovation.  I previously graduated in Biological Sciences from the University of Leicester in 2011.

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Stephanie Bryan
Bobby Holdbrook (2014)
     I am examing the effects of micronutrients on the susceptibility of lepidopteran pests to biopesticides, such as Bt and baculoviruses. My PhD is funded by a BBSRC DTP and is co-supervised by Dr Lex Kraaijeveld and Prof Philip Newland at the University of Southampton. Previously, I completed a BSc degree at the University of Leicester.

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RESEARCH TECHNICIANS

Phil Nott
I am currently working as a Technician within the Insect and Parasite Ecology Group, assisting with the general running of Prof Ken Wilson's Lab. This is for three days a week, my other time is spent on other Plant Sciences based projects within L.E.C including undergraduate projects, mainly plant - insect interactions. My duties within the group include maintenance of Spodoptera exempta and littoralis cultures and Callosobruchus spp. cultures. I also help with the Small Mammal trapping projects among others. I am currently studying for a BSc (hons) in Natural Sciences with the Open University, hopefully finishing within a year or two!

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Phil Nott photo
Annabel Rice
I am working as a Research Technician on Agri-Tech Catalyst project with Prof Ken Wilson. We are looking at trying to formulate baculovirus biopesticides in a new way so that they persist longer on the crop and have a longer shelf life. My work involves lots of insect culturing and virus bioassays. After doing my PhD at Lancaster University with Rosa Menendez, I worked for 3 years as a research technician at Liverpool University before returning to Lancaster in 2016.

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MAIN COLLABORATORS

Dr Sheena Cotter                      University of Lincoln, UK
Prof Stephen Simpson               University of Sydney, Australia
David Grzywacz                       University of Greenwich, UK
Dr Robert Graham:                   Harper Adams University UK
Wilfred Mushobozi                    EcoAgriConsult Ltd, Tanzania
Prof Seif Madoffe                     Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania
Dr Esmat Hegazi                       
University of Alexandria, Egypt
Prof Edwin Michael                  University of Notre Dame, USA
Prof Jenny Cory                       Simon Fraser University, Canada
Dr Brian Preston                       Liverpool John Moores University, UK
Dr Ian Stevenson                      Sunadal Data Solutions

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GROUP ALUMNI

Dr Ian Stevenson: PDRA, now runs Sunadal Data Solutions - an ecological database development company
Dr Brian Preston: PhD student (1997-2001), now lecturer at Lverpool John Moores University, UK
Dr Sheena Cotter: PhD student (1998-2002), post-doc (2005-2007), now senior lecturer University of Lincoln, UK
Dr Sarah Moore: PhD student (1999-2003), now an environmental consultant
Dr Louisa Tempest: PhD student (2001-2006), 'works for the Government'
Dr Libby Redman: PhD student based at CEH-Oxford (2001-2006), now at Glasgow Vet.
Dr Susan Williamson: PhD student (2003-2007), now works as a statistician
Dr Sonia Povey: PhD student (2004-2008), physiotherapist
Dr Kwang Pum Lee: post-doc (2004-2005), now a lecturer in South Korea
Andrew Slaughter: research technician (2006), now a researcher in South Africa
Dr Julia Myatt
: research technician (2005), now a lecturer at the University of Birmingham, UK
Dr Clare Benskin:
research technician (2004), PhD (2005-2009), now employed on the DTC River Eden Project.
Shaihla Khan: research technician (2010), now enrolled on a doctoral programme in the USA.
Anja Carlsson: PhD student (2008-2012), now a PDRA in Canada
Annabel Rice: PhD student (2008-2012), now a research technician at the University of Liverpool
Rachel Hope: PhD student (2009-2013)
Philip Donkersley: PhD student (2010-2014)
Emily Adams: PhD student (2010-2014)
Dr Robert Graham: PDRA (2008-2011), Marie Curie Fellow (2011-2014), now senior lecturer at Harper Adams University UK




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