During this placement the student will be based in the Centre for Agri-Environmental Research (CAER) within the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development. This placement will contribute to a larger project in agroecology investigating the benefits of planting wildflower insect habitats as a sustainable biological-control tool for UK apple growers.
Department: Sustainable Land Management
Supervised by: Michael Garratt
The aim of the placement is to gather datasets on arthropod communities during apple growing seasons (Spring/Summer). This is designed to assess the effects of well-established wildflower insect habitats as a sustainable biological-control tool for commercial UK apple growers. This will involve identification of collected invertebrate samples to a broad taxonomic level (for example Order level) using a light microscope. This will take place on campus. The placement student will work alongside the current project student and will be fully trained and supported to carry out the methods. The project may also involve some assessment of apple pests and fruit damage in commercial apple orchards in Kent. The data will be used to assess the diversity and abundance of pests and enemies in the wildflower habitat and at different distances between the wildflower habitat and the centre of the orchard. This is designed to answer questions regarding the use of diverse wildflower plantings as resources to support beneficial insects.
Arthropods identification with light microscopes with a particular focus on apple pests and their natural predators/parasites. It may also involve fieldwork activities such as pest and natural enemy sampling.
The student should have a background in agriculture, ecology, biology or another relevant discipline. Interest or experience identifying arthropods/insects to order level is a plus. The student should be able to systematically keep meticulous records.
The student can develop skills in the following areas; insect taxonomy, identification of apple pests and their enemies using dichotomous keys, systematic data entry, ecological fieldwork, transect sampling, working on commercial farms in an agricultural setting, various arthropod sampling techniques. The placement student will work alongside the current project student and will be fully trained and supported to carry out the methods.
Most likely that majority of work will be University of Reading campus (and some work occasional work may also be done in commercial apple orchards, Kent, UK with the PhD student working on the project).
9-5
Thursday 01 June 2023 - Saturday 30 September 2023
The deadline to apply for this opportunity is Monday 3rd April 2023. Students should submit their CV and Cover Letter directly to the Project Supervisor (click on supervisor name at the top of the page for email). Successful candidates will be invited for an interview.