Scientific Activities
The aim of the work done is to understand the
foraging mechanisms of insect parasitoids that are involved in their ability
to attack their hosts. Understanding these mechanisms will help in screening
better agents for biological control programmes, or to improve their efficiency
to control their hosts when they are released in the field. Theoretical approaches
are developed - mainly using Monte Carlo simulations and Genetic Algorithms
- and experiments are conducted in order to verify the predictions obtained.
The genetic variations in the biological traits studied are also quantified
within natural and mass-reared populations. Model species are egg parasitoids
(Trichogrammatidae and Scelionidae) and Aphid parasitoids. The main traits studied
are (1) those involved in progeny and sex allocation (sex ratio), (2) locomotory
mechanisms involved in discovering hosts (video tracking), (3) patch exploitation
strategies, etc.
(click on the thumbnail to see an enlarged image)
The image above is a visual depiction of the research conducted. The image is
comprised of the most frequently used words in the abstracts of published papers.
The size of the word is proportional to the frequency of occurrence. Image courtesy
of http://www.edwordle.net/
My other scientific activities are/were:
- Editor in Chief of BioControl,
2006 to present.
- Honorary member of the International Organization for Biological Control (Iobc; 2016).
- Responsable/organizer (with Tamar Keasar and Michal Segoli) of the Research Group "Mathematical Modelling of Biological Control Interaction to Support Agriculture and Conservation", financially supported by the Israel Institute For Advanced Studies (IIAS), February to June 2022.
- Chairman of the ESF scientific programme "Behavioural Ecology of Insect Parasitoids" (Bepar), 2004 to 2009.
- Associated Professor at the University of Montreal (Quebec, Canada), 2011 to 2014.
- "Adjunct Professor" at the University of Kasetsart at Bangkok, Thailand (Since 2011).
- Associated Professor at the Uqam (Université du Québec à Montréal, Québec, Canada), 2008 to 2011.
- Vice director of the GDR-Cnrs 2155 "Behavioral Ecology" (director: Dr. M. Théry, Dijon, France), 2000 to 2007.
- Secretary General of the Global International Oganization for Biological Control (Iobc), 1996 to 2000.
- Associated Editor for "Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata", 1996 to present.
- Member of the International Editorial Board of "Neotropical Entomology", 2009 to present.
- Subject Editor for "Journal of Economic Entomology", 2018 to 2019.
- Member of the International Editorial Board of "Entomologia", 2013-2016.
- Associated Editor for "BioControl", 2001 to 2006.
- Associated Editor for "Applied Entomology and Zoology", 2003 to present.
- Associated Editor for "Acta Oecologica", 1995 to 1997.
- Member of the International Scientific Committee of the International Congress of Entomology (ICE) organized in Helsinki, Finland (2021) and Kyoto, Japan (2024).
- (Co)convenor of the Section "Biological Control and Insect Pathology" for the XXVI International Congress of Entomology (Helsinki, July 2021).
- Chairman of the Iobc Global Working Group on egg parasitoids, 1988 to 2010.
- Co-organiser of the 3rd, 4th & 6th International Symposium on "Egg parasitoids", San Antonio, Texas, USA (Sept.,
1990), Cairo, Egypt (Oct., 1994) and Perugia, Italy (Sept. 2002).
- Organiser of the 1996 European Workshop on "Quality Control of Mass-Reared Arthropods", Antibes, France (February).
- Organiser of the 2006 International Conference on Behavioural Ecology of Insect Parasitoids, Antibes, France (September).
- Organiser of the 2011 Second Entomophagous Insects Conference, Antibes, France (June).
- Extensive lectures on Biological Control, Behavioural Ecology and Population Genetics for French and foreign undergraduate students.
- Extensive teaching on Statistics (Standard Statistical Analyses, Quality Control analyses, etc.).
- Invited talks on Biological Control and Behavioural Ecology for undergraduate students in different countries.
Reviewer for the following international journals:
- Acta Oecologica.
- Adaptive Behavior.
- Annales de la Société Entomologique de France.
- Animal Behaviour.
- Applied Entomology and Zoology.
- Behavioral Ecology.
- Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.
- Behaviour.
- Behavioural Processes.
- BioControl.
- Biocontrol Science and Technology.
- Biological Control.
- Biological Journal of the Linnean Society.
- BioMed Research International.
- Bulletin of Entomological Research.
- The Canadian Entomologist.
- Cahiers/agriculture.
- Ecography.
- Ecological Entomology.
- Ecology and Evolution.
- Ecology Letters.
- Entomologia Experimentalis & Applicata.
- Entomophaga.
- Environmental Entomology.
- Ethology Ecology & Evolution.
- European Journal of Entomology.
- Evolution.
- Evolutionary Applications.
- Evolutionary Ecology.
- Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.
- Heredity.
- International Journal of Robotics Research.
- Insect Science.
- Journal of Animal Ecology.
- Journal of Applied Ecology.
- Journal of Applied Entomology.
- Journal of Chemical Ecology.
- Journal of Economic Entomology.
- Journal of Insect Behavior.
- Journal of Insect Science.
- Journal of Pest Science.
- Journal of the Royal Society Interface.
- Naturwissenschaften.
- Neotropical Entomology.
- Oecologia.
- Oikos.
- PeerJ.
- Pest Management Science.
- Physiological Entomology.
- Phytoparasitica.
- PLoS ONE.
- Proceedings of the Royal Society series B.
- Scientific Reports.
- The American Naturalist.
- Theoretical Population Biology.
- TREE (Trends in Ecology & Evolution).