Harper Adams academics to present talks at British Beekeeper’s Association’s Spring Convention

A popular beekeeping conference at Harper Adams University this weekend will include a series of talks by University academics among its sessions.

The British Beekeeper’s Association’s Spring Convention is once again returning to the Harper Adams campus – and Principal Lecturer Dr John Reade, Reader in Entomology Dr Tom Pope and Lecturer in Entomology and Integrated Pest Management Dr Joe Roberts are all taking part in sessions over the weekend sharing their knowledge with conference delegates.

Dr Reade will be presenting both a seminar and a workshop at the event.

His seminar, A Bountifulness of Botany, will take participants from basic botany to the latest research in agroecology and plant science.

It will explore taxonomy, the parts of a plant, their lifecycles, their interactions, and discuss why they are so fundamental to all life on Earth.

Meanwhile, the interactive laboratory-based Botany in Practice workshop session will allow participants to practise plant identification, delve into plant morphology, and explore the wonderful world of plants.

Much of Dr Pope’s research is focused on development of sustainable pest management tools, including improved monitoring of crop pests and use of alternatives to synthetic chemical pesticides.

He will be talking about the history of Integrated Pest Management or IPM.

While the term IPM was coined in 1972 and has since been widely accepted by the scientific community, Dr Pope argues a perfect definition of IPM has yet to be agreed upon – and he will contend that, despite five decades of progress, there remains much to do in order to develop the science of IPM so crop protection approaches are used simultaneously in an optimised way.

Finally, Dr Roberts will be discussing Data-driven Insect Monitoring. Data is increasingly used to inform decisions in all aspects of day-to-day life.

Scientists – and others - are also able to use data to help monitor a range of variables in the natural environment, include insect biodiversity and populations. Dr Roberts’ talk will explore how data is currently exploited - and the future of insect monitoring using cutting-edge technologies.

Dr Reade said: “The Spring Convention is a regular in the Harper Adams calendar and our campus is always a hive of activity across the weekend!
“As entomologists, both Tom and Joe have spoken previously, while this will be my first time at the conference. It’s great for us as academics to be able to share knowledge at an event like this on our home turf, to interact with convention attendees, and to support the British Beekeepers’ Association!”

Advance Booking for the Convention has closed, but wristbands are available on the day – see more here.