Together with my friend and colleague Dr. Ibtissem Ben Fekih, I am organizing a workshop at Meise Botanic Garden and Ghent University, titled “Arthropod–Fungal Associations: from Parasites to Pathogens”. It will take place on 13–15 May 2024 and consist of lectures, fieldwork, and microscopy practicals. Instructors are myself, Dr. Ibtissem Ben Fekih from Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech – University of Liège, PhD student Frederik C. De Wint from Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Science, Prof. Dr. Annette Bruun Jensen from the University of Copenhagen, and Prof. Dr. Jennifer Luangsa-ard from National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC).

The workshop will be organized as a mix of lectures, fieldwork, and laboratory sessions. Lectures will cover topics in conservation, ecology, and biocontrol, in addition to a taxonomic overview of major clades of insect-parasitic and pathogenic fungi. These include Entomophthorales (Entomophthoromycotina, Zoopagomycota), Hypocreales, Laboulbeniales, and Onygenales (Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota). Within Hypocreales, the Clavicipitaceae, Cordycipitaceae, and Ophiocordycipitaceae families will be treated.

Registration link. Please register before 30 April 2024 23:59 CET. Cost: 121 EUR/participant (21% VAT included).

We are excited to organize this workshop for the first time and hope to welcome a diverse body of participants to Belgium! Please email me if you have any questions.

Danny Haelewaters

Meeting venues

Meise Botanic Garden, Vlaamse Hoeve (13 & 14 May)

Ghent University, Campus Ledeganck, Lab Room 2.1 (14 & 15 May)

Ghent University, Campus Ledeganck, Lecture Room 1.3 (15 May)

Instructors

Danny Haelewaters (PhD 2018, Harvard University) is a Visiting Professor and Senior Postdoctoral Fellow at Ghent University and Meise Botanic Garden. He studies understudied groups of fungi in understudied habitats, with a focus on Laboulbeniomycetes, and has done fieldwork around the globe. He also leads #TeamLaboul, an informal group of students who are all broadly interested in fungal parasites and pathogens. Google Scholar.

Ibtissem Ben Fekih (PhD 2016, National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia) is a Postdoctoral Research at Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech – University of Liège, Belgium. Her research focuses on insect-pathogenic fungi in the orders Entomophthorales and Hypocreales, biological control strategies, and multitrophic interactions. She worked in several countries including Tunisia, China, and South Korea. Google Scholar.

Frederik C. De Wint (MSc 2020, University of Antwerp) is a PhD student at the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences and University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic. He is an ecologist studying communities of entomopathogenic fungi and host arthropods, globally and with focus on Malaysian Borneo. He leads MyrmEcoDex, the ant-focused working group of the Belgian non-profit organization Biodiversity Inventory for Conservation (BINCO). Google Scholar.

Annette Bruun Jensen (PhD 2001, Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University) is an Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Her research focuses on the interaction between microorganisms and insects, particularly insect-pathogenic fungi.  She has worked with a broad range of insects (e.g., bees, ants, flies, aphids, and beetles) and several fungal groups (Ascosphaera, Entomophthorales, and Hypocreales) on many national and international projects including both applied and fundamental research questions. Google Scholar.

Jennifer Luangsa-ard (PhD 2004, Kasetsart University) is the Principal Investigator of the Plant Microbe Interaction Research Team at the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), Thailand, Her research focuses on the phylogeny and interactions of Hypocrealean invertebrate-pathogenic fungi. Google Scholar.