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Louise McNamara

Senior Research Officer

Research Interests

My research interests are integrated pest management of insect pests with a focus primarily on arable crops. My research also extends to forestry and horticulture pests. This encompasses insecticide resistance, epidemiology, virus transmission, virology, insect behaviour, plant resistance, chemical control, biological pest control, and cultural pest control. I carry out both research and commercial trials. I have a background in biological pest control, the mechanisms underlying the ability of entomopathogens to modulate insect immune responses and the production of secondary metabolites by entomopathogens.

Funding for my projects comes from Teagasc, Horizon 2020 & The Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and Science Foundation Ireland (SFI)

Current Projects

  • ELEVATE: Epidemiology of Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV) in Ireland under current climate and elevated temperature and CO2 (SFI funded)
  • BioCrop: Biofertilisation and bioprotection and Bioenhancement of crops pesticides project (DAFM funded)
  • AIDE: mAnaging aphIDs in cEreal (Teagasc funded)
  • RapID-Pest: Rapid identification of insect pests from bulk collections and cryptic samples  (Teagasc funded)
  • EXPECT: Expanding the alternative use and circularity potential of crops  (Teagasc funded)
  • MONET: MONitor & dtEecT (Marie Curie, Horizon 2020 funded)
  • HealthyPlants: A systematic survey of cultivated plant viruses and cereal virus reservoirs on the island of Ireland (Marie Curie, Horizon 2020 funded)
  • AgriAdapt: Developing strategies for the different sectors of Irish Agriculture to adapt to Climate change challenges (DAFM funded)
  • Future Cereals: Designing future cereals for improved agronomic and sustainability capabilities with new breeding techniques (SFI funded)

Education

BSc (Hons) Biological Sciences. Maynooth University (2012)

Professional Certificate in Teaching and Learning for Tutors and Demonstrators. Maynooth University (2013)

PhD: Interactions of entomopathogenic fungi and other control agents: mechanism and field potential against Hylobius abietis larvae. Maynooth University (2016).

Level 6 QQI Certificate in Crop Nutrition Management. Teagasc (2018)

Level 8 Foundation Cert in Artificial Intelligence. Technological University Dublin (2022)

Crop Entomology & Virology Team

Current:

Dr. Simranjit Kaur (Post Doc, Biocrop, 2022-present)

Dr. Munir Mostafiz (MSCA Post doc, MONET, 2024-present

Dr. Marta Niedzicka (MSCA Post doc, HealthyPlants, 2024-present)

Dr. Maximilian Schughart (Post Doc, ELEVATE, 2024-present)

Virgile Ballandras (Walsh Scholar, PhD candidate, RapID-Pest, Maynooth University, 2021-present)

Antoine Pichon (PhD candidate, EXPECT, SETU, 2022-present)

Jack Perry (PhD candidate, AIDE, Harper Adams, 2022-present)

Liam Sheppard (technician)

Former students:

Maximilian Schughart (PhD, ‘Investigating Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus epidemiology and insecticide resistance in the English grain aphid Sitobion avenae in post-neonicotinoid Ireland’, UCD, 2020-2024)

Alison George (MSc, ‘Investigating potential pyrethroid tolerance in Rhopalosiphum padi, an important BYDV vector in arable crop production’, SETU, 2019-2021)

Aisling Moffat (PhD, ‘Tipula spp. pest status in Irish and Scottish agriculture; new insights into a long established pest. (Tipula spp)’, University of Edinburgh, 2018-2022)

Robyn Earl (PhD, ‘The Effects of Semi-Natural Habitats on Integrated Pest Management and Biodiversity Enhancement in Arable Agriculture’, University of Edinburgh, 2016-2024)

Collaborations

Maynooth University

University College Dublin

South East Technological University

University of Edinburgh

SRUC, Scotland’s Rural College

Rothamsted Research

Harper Adams University

ADAS

INRAE

Wageningen University

Videos

Aphids and BYDV control in Winter Cereals

Crops and Cultivation 2017

Aphid monitoring in Winter Cereals

Full list at:

Byrne, S., Schughart, M., Ballandras, V., Carolan, J.C., Sheppard, L. and McNamara, L. (2024). The first survey using high-throughput sequencing of cereal and barley yellow dwarf viruses in Irish spring and winter barley crops. Irish Journal of Agricultural and Food Research, 62(1), pp.130-145. DOI: 10.15212/ijafr-2023-0110

Moffat, A., Cole, L., Lacey, S., Harrison, B., Konkolewska, A., McCracken, D., Evans, A.K., Gaffney, M.T., Brennan, F., Jackson, G.E. and McNamara, L. (2024). Long‐term effects of management intensity and bioclimatic variables on leatherjacket (Tipula paludosa Meigen) populations at farm scale. Journal of Applied Entomology, 148(5), pp.518-527. DOI: 10.1111/jen.13245

Luke, S.H., Roy, H.E., Thomas, C.D., Tilley, L.A., et al (2023). Grand challenges in entomology: Priorities for action in the coming decades. Insect conservation and diversity, 16(2), pp.173-189. https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12637

George, A., Meally, H., Foster, S., Willamson, M., Walsh, L., Carroll, J., Gaffney, M.T. and McNamara, L. (2022). A note on current pyrethroid susceptibility in the bird cherry‐oat aphid, Rhopalosiphum padi in Ireland. Irish Journal of Agricultural and Food Research. DOI: 10.15212/ijafr-2022-0106

Moffat, A., Gaffney, M. T., Brennan, F., Cole, L., Jackson, G., Konkolewska, A., and McNamara, L (2022). Identification and distribution of leatherjackets (Tipula spp.) in the Republic of Ireland. Irish Journal of Agricultural and Food Research. Vol. 61(2):397-406. DOI: 10.15212/ijafr-2022-0107

Walsh, L.E., Lacey, S., Doyle, D., Gaffney, M.T. and McNamara, L. (2022). Evaluating the timing of insecticide application to manage barley yellow dwarf virus and yield in winter barley. Irish Journal of Agricultural and Food Research. Vol. 61(2):372-383. DOI: 10.15212/ijafr-2022-0108

Byrne, S., Schughart, M., Carolan, J.C., Gaffney, M., Thorpe, P., Malloch, G., Wilkinson, T. and McNamara, L., (2022). Genome sequence of the English grain aphid, Sitobion avenae and its endosymbiont Buchnera aphidicola. G3, 12(3), DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkab418

Jackson, G.E., Malloch, G., Mc Namara, L. and D. Little (2020) Grain aphids (Sitobion avenae) with knockdown resistance (kdr) to insecticide exhibit fitness trade-offs, including increased vulnerability to the natural enemy Aphidius ervi. PLoS ONE 15(11). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230541

Mc Namara, L., Gauthier, K., Walsh, L., Thébaud, G., Gaffney, M. and E. Jacquot (2020). Management of yellow dwarf disease in Europe in a post‐neonicotinoid agriculture. Pest Management Science, 76: 2276–2285. https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.5835.

Mc Namara, L., Dolan, S.K. Walsh, J.M.D., Stephens, J.C., Glare, TR, Kavanagh, K. and C.T. Griffin (2019) Oosporein, an abundant metabolite in Beauveria caledonica, with a feedback induction mechanism and a role in insect virulence. Fungal Biology, 123: 601-610 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.funbio.2019.01.004

Mc Namara, L., Kapranas, A., Williams, C.D., O’Tuama, P., Kavanagh, K. and C.T. Griffin (2018).  Efficacy of entomopathogenic fungi against large pine weevil, Hylobius abietis, and their additive effects when combined with entomopathogenic nematodes. Journal of Pest Science, 91: 1407–1419. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-018-0994-9

Mc Namara, L., Griffin, C.T., Fitzpatrick, D. Kavanagh, K. and J.C. Carolan (2018). The effect of entomopathogenic fungal culture filtrate on the immune response and haemolymph proteome of the large pine weevil, Hylobius abietis. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 101: 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibmb.2018.07.001

Mc Namara, L., Carolan, J.C., Griffin, C.T., Fitzpatrick, D. and K. Kavanagh (2017). The effect of entomopathogenic fungal culture filtrate on the immune response of the greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella. Journal of Insect Physiology, 100: 82-92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2017.05.009

Kapranas, A., Malone, B., Quinn, S., Mc Namara, L., Williams, C.D., O’Tuama, P., Peters, A. & C. T. Griffin (2017). Efficacy of entomopathogenic nematodes for control of large pine weevil, Hylobius abietis: effects of soil type and pest density and spatial distribution. Journal of Pest Science, 90: 495–505. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-016-0823-y

Williams, C.D., Dillon, A.B., Harvey, C.D., Hennessy, R., Mc Namara, L. and C.T. Griffin (2013). Control of a major pest of forestry, Hylobius abietis, with entomopathogenic nematodes and fungi using eradicant and prophylactic strategies, Forest Ecology and Management, 305: 212–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2013.05.055