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Louise McNamara

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 best use of insecticides, insecticide resistance, epidemiology, biological pest control, cultural control and biodiversity in an arable farm landscape. 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).

Current Projects

  • CAPtuRE: Cereal APhid REsistance
  • BioCrop: Biofertilisation and bioprotection and Bioenhancement of crops pesticides project (DAFM funded)
  • RapID-Pest: Rapid identification of insect pests from bulk collections and cryptic samples
  • BIOTA
  • Leatherjacket Biocontrol: Identifying the role of the soil microbiome in the occurrence and potential control of Leatherjackets (Tipula spp)
  • The establishment and management of Ecological Focus Areas to enhance ecosystem services and integrated pest management
  • IPM in Tillage Crops
  • PW-IPM: Towards Integrated Pest Management for Pine Weevil in Ireland (DAFM funded)
  • Legumes Translated (H2020 funded). www.legumes-translated.eu
  • Spot Stop: Surveillance, Epidemiological and phenology studies of the invasive fruit fly, Drosophila suzukii on Irish Fruit farms.

Education

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

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

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

Team

Maximilian Schughart (Phd, working on ‘Understanding B/CYDV epidemiology and mechanisms underlying resistance in grain aphids’, 2020-present)

Alison George (Masters Student, working on ‘R. padi resistance status’, 2019-present)

Aisling Moffat (PhD student, working on ‘Leatherjacket Biocontrol: Identifying the role of the soil microbiome in the occurrence and potential control of Leatherjackets (Tipula spp)’, 2018-present)

Robyn Earl (PhD student, working on ‘The establishment and management of Ecological Focus Areas to enhance ecosystem services and integrated pest management’, 2016-present)

Collaborations

Maynooth University

University College Dublin

Carlow Institute of Technology

University of Edinburgh

SRUC, Scotland’s Rural College

Rothamsted Research

INRA

Videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOr6tFWkyHI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PputPg2V3jU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4H7JJVwj2k

Full list at:

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