There are many ecosystems where fungi act as an effective bio-insecticide. When conditions are right, these species of fungi infect their insect hosts which allow them to propagate and in some cases significantly reduce populations of their target hosts. Applications of these fungi are being explored in agriculture, pest management and ecosystem conservation. Today we are joined by a leading researcher in mycopesticide development and insect pathologist, Dr. Mark Goettel.

Mark Goettel is an Insect Pathologist recently retired from the Lethbridge Research Centre of Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada. He obtained his BSc from Concordia University, Montreal in Biology, in 1975; MSc from the University of Ottawa in Insect Ecophysiology, in 1977. He then spent 3 years in the Fiji Islands studying the Biocontrol of Mosquitoes under Canadian International Development Agency Fellowship/United Nations Volunteer/World Health Organization funding. He then obtained his PhD in 1997 from the University of Alberta. His dissertation research was on Microbial Control of Mosquitoes. Following this he undertook a Post-Doc at the Insect Pathology Resource Centre, Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell University in New York. He returned to Canada in 1988 to join the Lethbridge Research Centre as an Insect Pathologist until his retirement in 2012. Since retirement he continued his position as Editor-in-Chief of Biocontrol Science and Technology until 2017. He also provided workshops on preparation of scientific manuscripts for publication in peer reviewed journals in China and elsewhere. He also presented hands-on science workshops in elementary schools throughout Southern Alberta under the Scientists in School program. He is presently a Jinshan Scholar at the Institute of Applied Ecology at the Fujian Agricultural and Forestry University in Fuzhou, China.

Show notes: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nEG-cUute8se0VrDBrAIommyxvj2Q1Zh?usp=sharing