Plenary Speakers
Dr. Andrea Gloria-Soria
Associate Agricultural Scientist
Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
Bio: Dr. Gloria-Soria joined The Connecticut Agricultural Station in January 2018. She earned a B.Sc. in Biology at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Houston, Texas. She was a Gaylord Donnelley Environmental Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale from 2009-2011 with Dr. Leo Buss and Dr. Stephen Dellaporta and continued her postdoctoral work with Dr. Jeffrey Powell at Yale University. Dr. Gloria-Soria has expertise in population genetics, molecular biology, evolutionary genetics, vector biology, and experimental evolution. She studies patterns of genetic diversity in disease vectors to understand their historical and modern distribution and the implications of genetic variation on disease transmission. Her work initially focused on the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti and now has expanded to study the northern house mosquito, Culex pipiens, the tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, and the eastern tree hole mosquito, Aedes triseriatus.
Title: Using population genomics to reconstruct Aedes aegypti evolutionary history
Abstract: Aedes aegypti is the primary vector of the most important arboviruses causing human diseases: dengue, chikungunya, Zika and urban yellow fever. The species originated in the islands of the Southwest Indian Ocean, before colonizing Africa <85,000 years ago and spreading to the global tropics and subtropics in the last half century. Its expansion to temperate latitudes continues today aided by human-mediated transport of adults, larvae, or eggs and climate change. Range expansion, combined with Ae. aegypti adaptability to thrive in human environments, dramatically increases the percentage of global population at risk for diseases it transmits. I will talk about the current distribution of Ae. aegypti, recent invasions, discuss the use of population genomics to investigate the evolutionary history of the species and how human activity has shaped the distribution of these species throughout the years, and how this information can contribute to vector control.
Dr. Heath MacMillan
Associate Professor
Department of Biology and Institute of Biochemistry at Carleton University
Bio: I’m an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology and Institute of Biochemistry at Carleton University. I took an early interest in animal physiology, which led to an honours thesis with Brent Sinclair (Hewitt Award, 2012) at Western before I was sure I had any particular interest in entomology. I was sold. I stayed at Western for an MSc which quickly turned into a PhD with Brent and Jim Staples as a co-supervisor. Following my PhD, I spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow with Johannes Overgaard at Aarhus University in Denmark, and another two as a Banting PDF with Andrew Donini at York University. During my training my thinking was moulded by these talented mentors and many other talented integrative physiologists. Today, the MacMillan lab at Carleton is full of talented students and postdocs who share the values and kind spirit of the entomological community in Canada that is well-represented at ESC meetings. Throughout my career, I have worked to build a clear understanding of the biochemical and physiological mechanisms governing performance and stress-induced injury in insects, with a particular focus on temperature. Lately, we have been working with academic, government, and industry partners to build conceptual models of how abiotic and biotic stressors (e.g. temperature, diet, crowding and plastics) constrain the ability of insects to survive, remain active, grow, and reproduce. Our current work involves a variety of model insects, including field crickets, wood-boring beetles, fruit flies, and mosquitoes.
Title: New woes rising: How chronic stressors progressively challenge insect physiology
Abstract: The world is a stressful place. Stressors act on biotic systems at the molecular and biochemical levels. In multicellular animals, like insects, these subcellular impacts manifest problems that cascade through cellular, tissue, organ, and organ systems to ultimately challenge fitness. How and why insects experience or avoid these effects is important for forecasting change in the natural world, for predicting and controlling their negative impacts on human endeavours, and for leveraging their enormous positive potential. In this talk, I will outline our integrative approach to understanding how conceptually simple challenges (e.g. it is too cold, or there is not enough protein) impact multiple levels of biological organization, and how insects have evolved to tolerate or circumvent such woes. We will start with how low temperatures disrupt ion and water balance in cold-intolerant species, driving a systemic loss of homeostasis, injury, and death. We will then touch on how some very cold tolerant species of interest, like the mountain pine beetle, or Asian tiger mosquito have evolved to physiologically avoid these pesky issues in cold winters and survive the cold. Lastly, we will explore how we can use integrative stress physiology as one way to improve insect mass rearing, with a focus on how we can make cricket rearing for food and feed more productive and sustainable.
Dr. L. Philip Lounibos
University of Florida
Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory
Bio: A sixth-generation Californian, Phil Lounibos grew up on a chicken farm in Petaluma. He attended the University of Notre Dame, where he was introduced to mosquito research in the lab of the late George Craig. After a PhD in biology at Harvard University, as a postdoctoral fellow at the Mosquito Biology Unit of the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology, he oversaw the first trials for genetic control of Aedes aegypti on the Kenya coast and performed independent research on other East African container mosquitoes. From 1977-2017, from the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory he conducted in both Florida and South America ecological, behavioural, and physiological studies on a wide range of mosquito species. The ecology of invasive mosquito species, especially Ae. aegypti and Aedes albopictus, and mechanisms of displacement and segregation, were major themes of his final two decades of research at FMEL, funded by NIH. Lounibos mentored numerous graduate students and postdocs as a faculty member of the University of Florida.
Title: Invasive species and mosquito-borne disease
Abstract: Having hitchhiked with human travellers for millenia, invasive mosquito species were transported intercontinentally on sailing vessels during the 15-19th centuries and on container ships beginning with the 20th century. Outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases, including yellow fever, malaria (human and avian), filariasis, dengue, chikungunya, West Nile fever, and Zika have been attributed to and amplified by invasive vector species. Drought-resistant eggs and domesticity both favor invasiveness in mosquitoes, and pre-adaptations in their native ranges, such as preferences for disturbed, ecotonal habitats, may have facilitated the invasive successes of Aedes aegypti (L.) and Aedes albopictus Skuse. Independent invasions by Ae. albopictus in 1985 led to competitive exclusions of Ae. aegypti in southeastern USA but not in Brazil. Experiments identified asymmetric reproductive interference (=satyrization) as causing the rapid displacements of Ae. aegypti in the USA but not in Brazil, where male Ae. albopictus are ineffective satyrs. In 2012 the Indian vector Anopheles stephensi Liston was recognized as the major transmitter during a malaria outbreak in arid Djibouti. Now widespread in Africa, invasive An. stephensi occupies a more urbanized niche than native vector species and, hence, represents a new obstacle to malaria control on that continent. In southern Florida, the Burmese python has decreased mammalian diversity in areas of the Everglades where this invasive reptile is common. Everglades virus, which circulates through murid rodent hosts, is now 10X more prevalent in Culex cedecei Stone and Hair in areas where this snake is common because mosquito vectors have few alternative mammals to feed upon.
Dr. Janet Sperling
President, Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation
Bio: Dr. Sperling’s interest in entomology began during her BSc in Horticulture, and her subsequent MSc was on the sensory physiology and feeding behaviour of Colorado potato beetles. She later encountered the human dimension of Lyme disease while raising her family, and realized the shortcomings of knowledge on the subject. Janet began to explore how patient advocacy can influence health policy, eventually leading to private member’s bill C-442 sponsored by MP Elizabeth May. Recognizing the importance of evidence-based decision making, 30 years after first learning about Lyme disease in an academic setting, Janet used high throughput DNA sequencing to complete a PhD on the bacterial microbiome found in ticks. Since then she has applied what she learned in the lab to try to bridge gaps between relevant public policy and patient priorities, which is now Janet’s focus as President of the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation.
Title: Lyme, CanLyme and entomologists in action
Abstract: Entomologists can find themselves in a contentious environment when biological, political and social factors conflict. One example is the complex challenge of Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment. The current paradigm of Lyme disease covers multiple different Borrelia pathogen strains, tick vector species, vertebrate host species, co-infections and limits to detection. Diverging perspectives are provided by ecology, molecular biology, public health and politics, with debate particularly revolving around chronic Lyme infection. Improved technologies such as high-throughput sequencing have bridged knowledge gaps but there is less understanding of the limitations of these technologies. However, determination to push boundaries drives progress, and the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation (CanLyme) remains committed to such progress by supporting increased understanding of tick biology, including the role of tick endosymbionts, tracking tick population spread, exposure to novel hosts, and constraints on transmission. The history of insecticide resistance provides perspective for a parallel discussion on the overuse and misuse of antibiotics. The history of Lyme patient advocacy is also instructive, particularly in distinguishing evidence from assumptions, and understanding the human costs of delaying investigation into co-infections and novel treatments. As we work toward improved public dialogue on adaptable evidence-based treatment protocols, entomologists have remained integral to translating science into action.
