About

As Global Lead – Pest Preparedness, I lead CABIs’ pest preparedness and response against plant health threats. This includes strategic actions, their associated outcomes, technical and scientific implementation and delivery.

I also support the growth and development of CABI’s invasive species work as part of CABI’s Medium-Term Strategy and CABI’s Science Strategy. The focus is on predicting, preventing, preparing for and managing biological invasions in agriculture and the environment, including technical guidance and quality control.

My work extends to monitoring pest preparedness and response actions. Furthermore, I mobilize resources to scale out and sustain these actions in line with CABI’s strategic goals. Lastly, I build effective links to other pest preparedness and response projects and programmes within CABI and with external partners, and build CABI’s global profile in this space.

I undertake research in the development of climate resilient Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies. This research relates to managing invasive insect pests that constrain crops by employing basic and applied research. By doing so, the aim is to unravel the invasion biology and ecology of invasive pests of agricultural crops, and the development of lower-risk IPM options with a strong inclination towards nature-based solutions, such as biological control and the use of biopesticides.

The overall goal of my research is to improve plant health by reducing pest risks and to provide farmers with novel pest management solutions that reduce the heavy reliance on chemical pesticides.