Post-doctoral researcher Saioa Legarrea has completed her time in the Srinivasan Lab and has accepted a research position at the University of La Rioja in Logroño, Spain! Saioa is a native of Pamplona, Spain, a city in the Basque region famous for its Running of the Bulls.
The province of La Rioja, Spain is famous for its wine production. In her new position, Saioa will be studying ways to enhance biological control of vineyard pests. Her team will be studying “attract and reward” systems, where chemical compounds are used to attract natural enemies to an area with plenty of pests to feed on. Nectar plants are intercropped to provide alternative food for natural enemies when prey are less abundant. Saioa will also use molecular gut content analysis to determine if natural enemies are indeed feeding on pests and nectar from the area.
Saioa has a lot of experience in the field of biological control, especially with phytoseiid mites, which are biological control agents for thrips and other mite species.
Saioa is a creative, whip-smart, and thoughtful scientist. She is always thinking of novel ways to test a research question and is always there to help or provide feedback to others in the lab. We will miss her very much!
Of course we had to throw her farewell pizza party!
