Invited speakers

Samantha Cook 

Samantha (Sam to her friends!) Cook is a Principal Investigator at Rothamsted Research, UK, where she is deputy lead of the Agroecology & IPM Department.  She specialises in the ecology and protection of oilseed crops, developing innovative Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies which reduce or negate the use of insecticides. Her work focuses on key pests in oilseed rape, including pollen beetle and cabbage stem flea beetle - and their natural enemies. By combining knowledge of insect behaviour with practical field research, Sam has developed improved monitoring and forecasting tools (including commercial trapping solutions), and habitat management approaches (including push-pull strategies, and companion planting) that enhance natural pest control. She is currently leading large-scale UK field trials within the AgZero+ and One Crop Health programmes, exploring how nature-based farming systems can strengthen the ecological processes that underpin resilient and productive oilseed cropping. 

Mariann Damsgaard Thorsted 

Marian Damsgaard Thorsted is a senior specialist in rapeseed and leguminous seed production at SEGES Innovation, an independent research and innovation company in Denmark which works for a sustainable and competitive agriculture and food production. She holds a PhD from University of Copenhagen and has been involved in several research projects related to crop protection in oilseed rape. 

Antoine Gardarin

Antoine Gardarin is a French agronomist working at the Agronomie laboratory (AgroParisTech-INRAE) in Paris. His research focuses on agroecology, investigating how biodiversity can be harnessed to reduce agriculture’s dependence on external inputs. He studies the interactions between contrasting cropping systems and semi-natural habitats, including perennial flower strips, to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services. He has a particular interest in conservation biological control in oilseed rape and grain legumes, examining how service plants (e.g. companion plants, trap crops) promote both bottom-up and top-down pest regulation. His work aims to design multifunctional, resilient, and sustainable cropping systems.

Albin Gunnarson

Albin Gunnarson is an agronomist and oilseed rape expert at the Swedish Seed and Oilseed Growers Association where he is responsible for trials and research. He is also the president of GCIRC (Global Council for Innovation in Rapeseed and Canola). He has authored >200 publications directed towards Swedish crop advisors and oilseed rape growers and been involved in numerous research project related to crop protection against diseases and pests in oilseed rape.  

Małgorzata (Gosia) Jędryczka

Full professor, corresponding member of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS), currently the head of the Pathogen Genetics and Plant Resistance Team at the Institute of Plant Genetics PAS. Her work focuses on the methods of early detection and identification of phytopathogens in plants (mainly oilseed rape) and the environment, including air, water and soil. Research involves classical and molecular characterisation of plant pathogens to explain the mechanisms shaping current structure of their populations, including the metagenomic approach. Her team searches for the sources of genetic resistance of plants to pathogens. She also specialises in the use of aerobiological methods in agriculture, to implement decision support systems (DSS) against the infection caused by air-transmitted pathogens.

Sari Peltonen

Dr. Sari Peltonen is a development manager in crop advisory sector in Association of ProAgria Centres Finland. She holds a PhD in plant pathology and has worked for ProAgria since 2000. Before that she has worked as a research associate in the University of Helsinki where she also held a position of acting professor in plant pathology in 1999. In ProAgria she has worked with developing advisory tools for crop production including environmental and climate change issues and the EU regulations. She has also acted in numerous projects in plant production including oilseed rape crops, plant protection and environmental factors. She has been author or co-author of numerous publications during her career.