Outsmarting
insect pests: What the latest research is telling us about how insects
communicate, and how we can get the message across to them - naturally
with
Jeremy McNeil
Laval University
The negative impact of insect pests on the production of food and fibre,
as well as on human health, is enormous. At present chemical insecticides
are the most commonly used means of control. However, insecticide resistance,
together with the undesirable ecological effects of insecticides on a
wide array of non-target organisms, requires that alternative control
strategies be found.
Dr. Jeremy McNeil will tell us how insects use naturally occurring chemicals
as information cues when selecting a mate or plants to eat, and how research
on these infochemicals will provide ecologically and economically acceptable
alternatives for insect pest control.
Jeremy McNeil is a Full Professor in the Biology Department at Laval
University. He has an international reputation for his interdisciplinary
research in chemical ecology, especially with respect to insect movement
in response to habitat quality. Jeremy has received awards both for his
research and for his activities related to the public awareness of science.
Dr. McNeil regularly served on committees for granting agencies such as
NSERC and FCAR, and is currently a member of a Canada Foundation for Innovation
committee.
DATE: Thursday, March 11, 1999 from 7:30 am - 9:00 am
|
