Dr. David Giron has several years of expertise in different aspects of entomological research, including nutrients acquisition and allocation strategies in insects and their consequences for life history traits. His integrative approach is at the interface between functional ecology and evolutionary ecology. The focus of his research is to understand the adaptive mechanisms involved in the long-lasting interactions between insects and their biotic environment, whether in host-parasitoid or plant-insect-microorganism relationships. In a context of nutritional ecology, he is particularly interested in the evolution and adaptive significance of the endophytic lifestyle in insects through an evolutionary ecophysiology approach and the role of endosymbiotic bacteria for the host plant-manipulation by insects. Dr David Giron received his Ph.D. degree in Ecology with Prof. Casas at the Insect Biology Research Institute (IRBI) in Tours (2002) studying the foraging ecology and life-history traits in parasitic wasps. From 2002 to 2004, he completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Georgia in Athens (USA) under the supervision of Prof. Strand working on evolutionary conflicts in parasitic waps. In 2005, he joined the French National Center for Scientific Reseearch (CNRS) and the IRBI where he now is the director.

Dr. Habil. Mircea-Dan Mitroiu is an Associate Professor at the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Iasi, Romania, where he teaches Invertebrate Systematics and several other subjects. He holds a PhD in Entomology and is interested in the taxonomy of parasitic wasps, especially of the mega-diverse Chalcidoidea superfamily. He published several monographs and research articles describing new genera and species to science and he is currently revising the Afrotropical fauna of Pteromalidae. He was a visiting scientist in many natural history museums across the world and was recently a Fulbright senior researcher at the University of California, Riverside.

Prof. Ruth Müller is leading the Unit Entomology at Institute of Tropical Medicine in Belgium, PoloGGB Genetics and Ecology Platform in Italy and Unit Medical Entomology at Goethe University in Germany. She is specalized in mosquito ecology and their control. In order to contribute to public health surveillance and control of vector-borne diseases, her teams monitor native and exotic mosquitoes, study the vector biology and ecology, assess the environmental risk and test the efficiency of vector control tools and strategies, and contribute to One Health solutions for real-life vector-borne problems.

Archie Murchie is an agricultural entomologist at the Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He leads the Pest and Plant Pathogen Surveillance unit, which has responsibility for scientific approaches to surveillance of pests, pathogens and invasive species harmful to crops, forestry, livestock and human health. Included within this remit is the improvement of monitoring strategies for pests and their natural enemies within an integrated pest management framework. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society and was Honorary Secretary for 10 years, involved in the organisation of many international and local entomological conferences including previous European Congresses.

Dr. Ralf Nauen is an insect toxicologist/biochemist working on functional (toxico)genomics, molecular entomology, fundamental and applied aspects of insecticide/acaricide mode of action and detoxification, as well as biochemical and molecular mechanisms of insecticide resistance and its management. He received his PhD from the University of Portsmouth (UK) and is a Bayer Distinguished Science Fellow. In 2013 he was awarded to become Fellow of the Entomological Society of America and in 2014 he received the prestigious American Chemical Society International Award for Research in Agrochemicals, in recognition of his outstanding and influential research into insecticide and acaricide modes of action and resistance. He authored more than 230 scientific papers/book chapters with more than 22,000 citations. He received the Highly Cited Researcher award by the Web of Science 2018-2020. He is appointed Visiting Professor by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and an Executive Editor of the well-known journal Pest Management Science.

Professor of Entomology at the University of Napoli Federico II (Italy) and Visiting Professor at Newcastle University (UK). The study of the molecular physiology of insect multitrophic interactions is at the core of his research interests, along with biotechnologies for insect control that can be developed based on this knowledge. His work particularly focuses on insect immunity and immunosuppression strategies by parasites and pathogens, and on how environmental stress can alter insect immunocompetence. In 2014 he was awarded the Cozzarelli Prize by the National Academy of Sciences of U.S.A. He currently serves as President of the Italian National Academy of Entomology and as co-editor in chief of “Journal of Insect Physiology”. He is member of the Council for International Congresses of Entomology and of the Praesidium of European Congresses of Entomology.

My research aims at elucidating the regulation of insect oogenesis, and how this regulation evolved within the insect class. My attention focuses on the transition from the panoistic to the meroistic ovary type, using the cockroach Blattella germanica as a model. We seek to identify the signals determining the right time to start ovarian follicle growth and maturation, looking for similarities and discrepancies between gene functions and networks in comparison with the polytrophic ovary of more modified species. We have studied different cell signaling pathways, including hormonal signaling, and at present, we are additionally exploring the possible role of piRNAs. We try to understand the function of these poorly conserved small non-coding RNAs as regulators of mRNA expression in ovarian growth and maturation.

Emmanouil Roditakis is Associate Professor of Agricultural Entomology and Pharmacology, at the Department of Agriculture, School of Agricultural Sciences, Hellenic Mediterranean University and the chair of ECE 2023, one of the major scientific events in the field of Entomology at a Global level. Roditakis is working on Integrated Management of key pest of the Mediterranean region with emphasis on novel synthetic insecticides. Evaluation of efficacy levels is one of the main axis of Roditakis Lab in combination with in depth investigation of insecticide resistance phenomena and establishment of resistance management tactics. Development and establishment of alternative pest control approaches, including beneficial, entomopathogens, pheromones, minerals oils, minerals, plant extracts etc. is the other axis of research activities. The past years a wide network of collaborators has been established by Roditakis that attracted substantial funding from the industry, the EU and National resources for the development of novel pest management solutions. Finally, serving as Subject/ Associate editor and reviewer of top scientific journals, organizer of seminars and scientific conferences, supervisor of PhD candidates as well as advisor of the Regional Public sector are included among a diverse rage of outreach activities.

Dr Jenni Stockan holds a PhD degree in riparian ecology and a BSc in ecology from the University of Aberdeen and a MSc in wildlife biology and conservation from Napier University, Edinburgh. She is employed at the James Hutton Institute and responsible for delivering entomological and ecological research to meet the needs of the Scottish Government and other funders. She currently manages the Scottish Government Strategic Research Programme’s work package on Biodiversity and Ecosystems. Her research focusses on the impact of abiotic and biotic drivers of insect biodiversity change and associated ecosystem services. She has published over 30 papers and over 40 contract reports, book chapters and other publications. She supervises PhD, MSc and BSc students. She has convened many local, national and international conferences including the XIV International Conference on Ephemeroptera, XVIII International Symposium on Plecoptera and the first International Wood Ant Symposium.