Rosemary Collier

I’m an applied entomologist who focuses on the pests of vegetable crops. My role at the University of Warwick means I can combine three of my main interests – animals, horticulture and food! I always wanted to work in this area and ‘got there’ by doing degrees in Zoology and Applied Entomology and then a PhD on pest caterpillars (cutworms). I’m an Associate Professor in the School of Life Sciences and a member of Warwick Crop Centre, I undertake research, teach undergraduate and masters students and coordinate Warwick University activity on food – the Food GRP. I’ve always tried to do something that is ‘useful’ and to help farmers and growers to implement IPM. I think that I’ve at least partly achieved this through my work on vegetable pests, such as the forecasting systems for various pests, the AHDB Pest Bulletin and AHDB Pest Blog. I can see that for various reasons there will need to be a step change in the way that growers protect their crops from pests and diseases in the future and I see this as a very exciting – but huge – challenge. I’m a keen gardener (mainly flowers) and a strong supporter of the RHS. I was absolutely delighted to be awarded the RHS Veitch Memorial Medal earlier this year.