TECNICELPA 2018: Best Poster Presentation to Catarina Gonçalves

Catarina Gonçalves, RAIZ Forestry Researcher, won the Best Poster Presentation, titled «Monitoring and Control of a new Eucalyptus pest, the bronze bug, Thaumastocoris peregrinus», at the XXIV International Forest, Pulp and Paper Conference - TECNICELPA 2018, which took place in Aveiro on 11 and 12 October. This event was attended by approximately 300 scientists, producers, technicians, and companies from various countries, from the forest, pulp, and paper areas.

The poster presents the main research lines developed by RAIZ, in collaboration with Altri Florestal and Instituto Superior de Agronomia (University of Lisbon), on the most recent eucalypt pest in Portugal, the bronze bug. These include monitoring of the pest’s expansion in the country, its bioecology, and the development of control methods, with emphasis on biological control with a natural enemy recently imported for studies under quarantine.

Catarina Gonçalves graduated in Biology, University of Lisbon (2003) and has a PhD in Entomology, University of the Azores (2012). She has been working in RAIZ since 2009 and manages research and development projects in integrated pest management, with emphasis on monitoring and control of pests, diseases, and weeds, as well as consulting and extension support.