Simon Leather

1980 PhD Ecology of cereal aphids, University of East Anglia
1977 BSc (I) Agricultural Zoology Leeds University

My main interests centre around biological pest control, mainly of aphids and lepidopteran pests of agriculture and forestry. My work has taken me around the world from Iceland to Africa. My main interest at the moment is examining the effect of organic crop production on tri-trophic systems within cereal and crucifer crops, but I am also, in collaboration with the Game Conservancy Trust examining the effect of agricultural practice on aerial predators of cereal pests. We are also involved in work with the Game Conservancy Trust looking at the interactions between cropping systems and game bird population dynamics. I have also been involved in research on biofuel production, in my case short rotation willow and poplar crops. I have worked with Rothamsted Research investigating the population dynamics of willow aphids on different clonal varieties of willow and poplar. My major interest with forestry is with pests of establishment forestry. I have been working on the large pine weevil, Hylobius abietis and the black pine beetle, Hylastes ater for more than 20 years, with a particular interest in their feeding behaviour and reproductive ecology, with the ultimate aim of introducing non-chemical control methods. I have also worked with the green spruce aphid, investigating the factors affecting its population dynamics. For over ten years I have been involved with a project investigating the biodiversity of urban geen spaces in Bracknell. I collaborate closely with Paul Pearce-Kelly at London Zoo, latterly with Partula snails and more recently on a project investigating the vectors of avian malaria.