John Holland

I am Head of Farmland Ecology at the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust. After studying Horticulture at Reading in the early 1980s, I worked on a farm for a year and then decided to go into research starting with a MSc in Integrated Pest Management at Southampton University followed by a PhD in New Zealand where I investigated why spider mite resurgence occurred following pyrethroid insecticides. I joined the Game Conservancy Trust in 1992 to work on an Integrated Farming Systems project and when that completed in 1998 became Head of Entomology. Since then I have worked mostly on large collaborative projects that have involved investigating the ecology of insects on farmland with the aim of understanding the impacts of farming practices or to develop techniques to enhance their numbers. I coordinated the QUESSA EU FP7 project that quantified the impact of semi-natural habitats on key ecosystem services such as pest control and pollination. I am currently leading an INTERREG project called BEESPOKE that aims to increase crop yields through enhancing levels of pollinators. I have an honorary professorship at University of Sussex and have authored or co-authored more than 130 scientific publications, including 80 in peer reviewed journals.