Feature where we've been | PPC88 September 2017
The ninth incarnation of ICUP took place at Aston University in Birmingham in July. Held every three years, the 2017 edition attracted a worldwide delegation of academics as well as many pest management professionals from the UK.
The majority of the 250 registered delegates participated in the three-day conference, and the remainder attended the one-day pest management professionals workshop.
The workshop included talks from Dr Alan Buckle on CRRU, Professor Dini Miller on thermal remediation for bed bug treatments, and Dr John Simmons, from BPCA Consultant Member Acheta, who hosted two sessions – controlling mice in the food industry, and the efficacy of a polydimethylsiloxane formulation against urban mosquito pests in the UK.
On the conference John said, “It was an eclectic mix of talks ranging from the very scientific to the more practical. I perhaps heard more about bed bugs than I would have liked, but they seem to be the sexy pest of the past few years, even if they are far from being the most important public health pest. All in all a great event, and one that is unique in the pest control world in its scientific viewpoint.”
On the evening of 11 July most attendees travelled (via traditional red London bus) to Birmingham’s Botanical Garden’s for the much-anticipated conference dinner. The opportunity to roam through the garden’s tropical, subtropical, mediterranean and arid houses during the drinks reception proved popular, although the following meal, presented in an alternative format to ‘traditional sit down’, was not so popular thanks to the somewhat haphazard distribution of the bowl food.
In addition to being one of the sponsors of the event, BPCA also presented a poster ‘Austerity bites: local authority pest control services’, which built on the 2016 National Survey to compare referral rates against local government activity (see pages 26-27 for more details).
BPCA’s Technical Manager, Dee Ward-Thompson, who attended the whole three-day conference said, “Congratulations to Dr Matthew Davies, Clive Boase, and Dr Bill Robinson on ICUP 2017. This is the first time I have attended the event and, despite a number of the pests discussed not being directly in our domain, it was useful for me to find out what research is out there and what challenges we could face in the future as pest professionals.”
Also attending the one-day workshop and conference dinner were members of BPCA’s Executive Board who, where possible, spoke to academic colleagues to raise awareness of professional pest control, BPCA and, most importantly, it’s members.
FROM THE OFFICIAL REPORT...
A key theme of the conference was global warming. Partho Dhang, an independent consultant from the Philippines detailed how over 50% of the world’s population now live in cities, often located near seas or rivers, yet this represents just 1% of the global land mass.
These conurbations provide ideal habitats for pests with an abundant supply of food, water and habitat. The predicted rise in global temperature by 2°C could cause radical changes for insects. As the body temperature of cold-blooded organisms reflect that of the immediate environment, and with the predicted rise in temperature, they could experience one to five additional life cycles per season. Likewise, rodent populations would also thrive.
MORE INFORMATION?
Readers who are interested in purchasing the proceedings from the 2017 conference can enquire by email...
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Simon Forrester
Chief Executive
15 September 2017 | PPC88