Lecturer in Agriculture
At Writtle I teach several modules related to sustainable agriculture and crop production, food security, global and local food systems, and integrated pest management. I am also involved in students’ research projects at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
I have worked for more than 10 years in research and education, working both in academia and private industry. I have conducted independent and collaborative research with institutions and research centres across the world. I have experience as an Experimental Director in a private testing facility, supervising and managing field and laboratory trials for international agrochemical companies. In the past I have frequently worked and collaborated with international organisations in various entomological and environmental projects.BSc in Agriculture (5-year course)
MSc in Plant Protection (2-year course)
PhD in Entomology (University of Thessaly, Greece)
My research interests span the fields of applied entomology, sustainable agriculture, insect pest management and “insect farming” as well. I am interested on improving insect control using modern and environmentally friendly methods exploiting the advances of technology. Invasion of new insect species, potential threats to UK agriculture and horticulture, biological control, efficacy trials and phytosanitary treatments for commodities are within my expertise and my research agenda. These are areas which I am happy to get involved and supervise students. Any other areas are not excluded.
My first research experience goes back to my master studies during which I tested “the implementation of a novel IPM program for small scale apple orchards in a pilot scale”. Since then, as a PhD student I was very lucky and had the opportunity to do research in a variety of research areas, most of them related to insects. I worked at the interface of several fields, using methods from animal behaviour, demography, molecular biology, and chemical ecology to explain questions related to the reproductive biology of olive fruit fly, ultimately aiming to provide new solutions to control this pest (Gerofotis et al. 2013, 2015, 2016). In addition to my PhD thesis, during this period I worked in other projects spanning in various research areas (pest management, efficacy trials, insects of medical importance) within the university and collaborating with international organisations and private companies as well. Once completing my PhD thesis, I worked as a postdoc in the Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Environment (AUTH, Greece). There, I continued my research on insects (Kouloussis, Gerofotis, et al. 2017, Gerofotis et al. 2019) and I was also involved in student supervision. At the same time, I served also as an Adjunct assistant professor, teaching courses in General Entomology and Applied Entomology. In addition to my research experience in academia, I have also experience working in the industry. In the beginning of 2019, I was offered the position of an Experimental Director in a certified private testing facility to supervise and manage field (GEP) and laboratory (GLP) trials (efficacy, residues and other environmental studies). In this position I was involved in several activities (experimental design, analyzing data, writing delegations to authorities and technical reports for clients, etc.).