Dr. Henry Eduardo Vacacela Ajila, Researcher, National Institute of Agricultural Research INIAP, Ecuador – SEP Fellow
Henry Eduardo Vacacela Ajila Agricultural Engineer – National University of Loja – Ecuador. Magister and Doctor Scientiae in Entomology – Federal University of Viçosa – Brazil. Qualified as Research Associate 2 by the Secretary of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation SENESCYT. He has professional experience in agronomy, with emphasis in Entomology/Agricultural Acarology, in the following areas: conventional and organic crop production, bioinputs elaboration, biological pest control, agricultural acarology, ecology, integrated pest management, toxicology. He has worked in government institutions such as: Ministry of Agriculture MAG, Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition MAATE, Agency of Regulation and Phytosanitary and Zoosanitary Control AGROCALIDAD. He acted as a professor at the Technical University of Cotopaxi UTC, and has participated as a speaker in national and international academic events. He has published scientific papers in specialized journals and is a reviewer in international journals such as: Biological Control, Industrial Crops and Products, Neotropical Entomology. He is currently a researcher at the National Institute of Agricultural Research INIAP – Ecuador, working on searching new natural enemies to control key pests such as phytophagous mites and fruit flies. In the current year, he was selected to participate in the “2022 Scientific Exchanges Program Fellowship Program (SEP Fellowship) Climate” at North Carolina State University NCSU. He will be working with mentors Godshen Pallipparambil, Yu Takeuchi, and Lauren Quevillon at the Center for Integrated Pest Management (CIPM). During his stay at CIPM, he will study about how climate change may affect the emergence of new pests and how some pests may disperse to new areas.