Durham University | |||
Dr Andreanna Welch | Project co-lead | The Welch lab specialise in using molecular approaches to hard-to-sample DNA to explore ecological and evolutionary questions. | |
Dr Alma Lissette Sánchez Quiñones | Postdoc - cocoa pollinator eDNA specialist | During her PhD, Alma developed techniques for eDNA sampling from cooca flowers on Cameroonian cocoa plantations. She is now applying that expertise to Ghana. | |
NIAB | |||
Dr Sarah Arnold | Project co-lead | Sarah is a pollination ecologist with an interest in crop pollinators. She previously research pollination of cocoa in the Caribbean on the CocoaPOP project and is now building on that with (IP)-EPIC. | |
KNUST | |||
Dr Michael Adjaloo | Scientific co-ordinator, cocoa pollination specialist | Dr Adjaloo has extensive experience with investigating the ecology and diversity of cocoa pollinators in central Ghana, especially around the Bobiri Forest Reserve, and is overseeing the fieldwork for (IP)-EPIC. | |
Mr Bismark Owusu | Cocoa specialist/forecaster and PhD student | With many years' experience working on cocoa around central Ghana, forecasting yields and liaising with farmers about crop management, Bismark is well-placed to carry out insect-sampling on this project as part of his PhD studies. | |
NRI (University of Greenwich) | |||
Dr Mandela Fernandez-Grandon | Chemical ecology and biopesticide specialist | Mandela leads a research area on understanding the benefits and limitations of biopesticides for pest management, and is interested in whether pyrethrum is a sustainable alternative in cocoa IPM. He also has extensive background in the chemical ecology of plant-insect and insect-insect interactions and seeks to learn whether this affects pollination in cocoa. | |
Dr Steve Harte | Synthetic organic chemist | Steve is a synthetic chemist with an interest in pheromone- and kairomone-based communication involving insects, including pollinator-flower interactions and mating pheromones. | |
Prof Phil Stevenson | Natural products chemist | Phil has a longstanding interest in the chemical ecology of pollination systems, as well as wider questions of agroecological sustainability with respect to insects. |