Organisation Committee: New IPM Symposium

Prof Tariq Butt

Swansea University, UK, Email: t.butt@swansea.ac.uk

Tariq's area of expertise is in the development of biopesticides for control of invertebrate pests of socioeconomic importance, especially pests impacting on food security and human and animal health. He has great experience in developing entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) and semiochemicals (attractants, repellents, antifeedants etc) which are deployed in innovative integrated pest management (IPM) programmes (e.g. "lure & kill", "stress & kill"). He works closely with industry, assisting in the development of new products or strategies that enhance the efficacy of the control agent. He has generated several patents with some IP being licensed to industry. Tariq also works closely with government agencies on matters related to the risk assessment and registration of EPF and other biopesticides. Over the years, he has supervised numerous PhDs and patented various semiochemicals for a variety of insects.

Dr Peter McEwen

Peter is an experienced CEO who has successfully sold multiple businesses across four countries and two continents. He holds a BSc in Environmental Studies from Hatfield Polytechnic and a Ph.D. in Medical Entomology from the University of Wales, Bangor. His career has spanned applied entomology and business development, with international experience in Spain, Finland, the USA, South America, and Asia. He has 60 scientific publications and established PKMCConsultants in 2023. Peter's journey began with BCC Consultants, which covered various services, and he was involved with the Welsh Government Welsh Pest Management Forum.

Dr Farooq A Shah

Natural Products BioHUB, UK, Email: f.a.shah@swansea.ac.uk

Dr Farooq Shah is Manager of the Natural Products BioHUB, a Swansea University collaboration with Swansea Council to bring together academia, industry and community to pioneer the use of sustainable natural products. He is also founder and CEO of Razbio limited, a biotech company specialising in the development of Biopesticides and smart insect pest monitoring. Dr Shah has diverse fundamental and applied research experience of biological control of insect pests, having successfully completed five industry led R&D projects, aimed at developing novel solutions and products for environmentally friendly insect pest control. His current research interests include; improving the monitoring of insect pests and developing strategies for enhancing the efficacy of bio-pesticides. Dr Shah is also leading a consortium of UK and Pakistan based academia, industry and policy makers to establish a biopesticide hub in Pakistan to support capacity building and biopesticide uptake in Pakistan.

Dr Ian Baxter

Global Regulatory Affairs Specialist, Koppert, Email:

Dr Ian Baxter is a Senior Global Regulatory Specialist for Koppert BV and has served as Vice-President of the U.K. arm of the International Biocontrol Manufacturers Association (IBMA UK), for the past three years. With over 25 years in biocontrol, Ian has worked in technical development and regulatory affairs for biopesticides and macrobiologicals, specializing in regulatory submission strategies and toxicological dossiers. Ian leads the IBMA U.K. ‘Regulatory Reform Task Force’, which was established to champion IBMA members’ interests in a Post-Brexit Britain. Beyond his professional role, Ian is busy helping out with the family farm and running his own equestrian yard.

Organisation Committee