Simon Leather
Simon Leather | |
---|---|
Alma mater | University of Leeds (BSc) University of East Anglia (PhD) |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | Forestry Commission, Imperial College London, Harper Adams University |
Thesis | Aspects of the ecology of the bird cherry-cat aphid Rhopalosiphum padi L (1980) |
Doctoral advisor | Tony Dixon |
Simon R Leather Hon.FRES (13 March 1955 - 27 September 2021)[1][2] was an entomologist in the UK, he was Professor of Entomology at Harper Adams University, Honorary Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society and an expert in aphids and applied entomology.[3]
Education and career
Leather had a childhood interest in insects
In the early 1990s he moved the Silwood Park campus of Imperial College London to be a lecturer, rising to Reader in Applied Ecology, in 2012 Leather moved to Harper Adams University to be Professor of Entomology.[6]
Academic activities
Leather did extensive research into integrated pest management of insect pests in agriculture, horticulture and forestry[7] and he was a member of the UK government's Tree Health and Plant Biosecurity Taskforce.[8]
His work on aphids includes the discovery in pea aphids of cannibalistic behaviour.[9]
Leather has also carried out research in urban ecology, looking at the biodiversity value of roundabouts for over 10 years in Bracknell Forest.[10]
He was an advocate of the need for specialist training in entomology and
In late 2012 Leather joined Twitter with the account handle @entoprof[14] and in 2013 he started a personal blog Don't forget the roundabouts. He talked and wrote about new platforms for non-academic science communication that are available online.[15][16]
Books
- Ecology of Insect Overwintering, with Keith Walters and Jeff Bale, published by Cambridge University Press in 1993.[17]
- Insect Reproduction, with Jim Hardie, published by CRC Press in 1995.[18]
- Insects on cherry trees with Keith Bland, number 27 in the Naturalists' Handbooks series in 1999, now published by Pelagic Publishing.[19]
- Edited Insect Sampling in Forest Ecosystems published by Wiley in 2005.[20]
- Insects: A Very Short Introduction published by Oxford University Press in 2022, part of the Very Short Introductions series.[21]
Honours and awards
- Made Honorary Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society in 2015.[22]
- Was a past president of the Amateur Entomologists Society.[23]
- Founding editor of the journal Insect Conservation & Diversity, with Yves Basset and Raphael Didham[24]
- Editor in Chief of the Association of Applied Biologist's journal Annals of Applied Biology.[25]
References
- ^ "Tributes paid to Harper Adams Professor Emeritus Simon Leather". Harper Adams University. 29 September 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ "The Seven Ages of an Entomologist β Happy 60th Birthday to Me". Don't Forget the Roundabouts. 13 March 2015.
- ^ "Staff Directory - Professor Simon Leather | Harper Adams University". www.harper-adams.ac.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- ^ Key, Roger (9 December 2013). "Book review: Working in Entomology". rsb.org.uk/biologist. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- ^ "Professor Simon Leather - NBN Conference 2017". National Biodiversity Network. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- ^ "Harper Adams welcomes entomology experts". Harper Adams University. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- ^ Leather, Simon. "Pest management β it isn't just about the killing". The Conversation. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- ^ Elston, Charlotte (9 November 2012). "Plantwise Blog: Research Teams and Scientists Working to Stem Ash Dieback Fungus". blog.plantwise.org. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- ^ Marshall, Michael. "Zoologger: Baby vampire aphids drink parents' blood". New Scientist. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- ^ "Roundabouts can be so much more than just traffic-calming devices | ialeUK - International Association for Landscape Ecology". iale.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- ^ "National Insect Week: The power of bugs". The Independent. 20 June 2010. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- ^ "Little buzz about entomology". Times Higher Education (THE). 15 January 2009. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- S2CID 8449443.
- ^ "Simon Leather πΆπͺπΊ (@EntoProf) | Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- PMID 29134093.
- ^ Mitchley, Jonathan (18 December 2013). "Why I Joined the Twitterati: Blogs, Tweets & Talks β Making Entomology Visible". Don't Forget the Roundabouts. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- ISBN 9780521417587.
- ISBN 978-1-351-07360-8.
- ^ "Insects on cherry trees". Pelagic Publishing. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- ISBN 9780470750513.
- )
- ^ "Professor Simon Leather". Royal Entomological Society. 2 August 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- ^ "Harper Adams University professor named president of the Amateur Entomological Society". Harper Adams University. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- ^ "Insect Conservation and Diversity". Royal Entomological Society. 4 July 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- . Retrieved 21 January 2020.
External links
- Harper Adams University profile
- Personal blog