The Executive Board of Wageningen University & Research has appointed Gerben Messelink as a Special Professor Biological Pest Control in greenhouse product system . The extra chair is domiciliate in the chairman chemical group Entomology , led by Prof. Marcel Dicke . This limited appointment is financed by Koppert Biological Systems and supported by the foundation Stimuflori through the financing of a PhD position .
Prof.dr.ir . G.J. ( Gerben ) Messelink ( ‘ t Harde , 1973 ) studied bionomic craw protection at Wageningen University and graduated in 1997 . After his study , he worked as a plant pathologist for a company in the nursery sector . In 1999 he started his career as an apply scientist for the Research Station for Floriculture and Greenhouse Vegetables in Naaldwijk , the cradle of biological pest control in protected crop . At this research station , which afterwards developed into Wageningen University & Research business social unit Greenhouse Horticulture , Messelink focused full on biological pest control in protected craw . In 2012 , he obtained a PhD level at the University of Amsterdam based on a thesis ennoble ‘ Foodweb complexities and biological pest ascendancy in nursery crop ‘ , after which he proceed his work at Wageningen University & Research Greenhouse Horticulture as a elderly researcher entomology .
Resilient cropping systemsHis work contributed to the evolution of new biological mastery agents , such as the predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii for the control of thripid and whitefly , the land - dwelling predatory mite Macrocheles robustulus for the control of thrips and fungus gnats and the parasitoid Aphidius matricariae for the control of aphid . Moreover , the methods for corroborate preventative discharge and farseeing - term establishment of natural enemies he helped developing have strongly conduce to the design of resilient cropping systems .
Messelink is also internationally combat-ready by enter in European projects , developing new biological control broadcast establish on autochthonal instinctive enemies in Asia and Africa , and through his place as universal secretarial assistant for the International Organisation for Biological and Integrated Control ( IOBC ) .
At Wageningen University & Research , prof . Messelink will continue to focus on the role of generalist piranha within resilient cropping system in nursery . This includes the complexness of multiple pest control , complementarity among raw enemies and the fundamental interaction of biological control with plant resiliency . His aim as a special professor is to strengthen the connecter between underlying ecologic research and applied research to foster biologic pest control condition .
Source : Wageningen University & Research
