Research interests
Michelle specialises in the minimisation of pesticide use in fruit horticulture, improving pollination in fruit crops and incorporating modern fruit growing practices with Integrated Pest Management. The former includes research on improving pest monitoring by developing semiochemical manipulation of insects, optimising the use of biological control agents and enhancing and fostering local landscape ecology to provide the ecosystem service of pest control.
Her pollination research is on the identification and enhancement of key insect pollinators of a range of fruit crops including blackcurrant, apple, pear and strawberry. She leads research into invasive pest species, such as, Drosophila suzukii and Anthonomus sp. and is a taxonomic specialist of Collembola, Araneae and fruit crop fauna.
She communicates research to growers and agronomists and presents papers at national and international conferences. She also authors best practice guidelines and factsheets for pest control in fruit crops and edits books and papers in specialist areas of fruit entomology.
Research projects
- Innovate UK (2018) Auto-dissemination of insect pathogens to control a new, economically damaging, invasive pest
- BBSRC IPA (2018) Exploitation of interspecific signals to deter oviposition by spotted-wing drosophila
- EU Interreg North Sea Region (2019) Benefitting ecosystems through evaluation of food supplies for pollination to open up knowledge for end users (BEESPOKE)
- AHDB (2020-2023) Soft Pest SF 174 Improving integrated pest management in soft fruit crops
- Farming Innovation Pathways (FIP) (2021-2022) Feasibility studies A novel biological attract and kill strategy for control of spotted wing drosophila: BIOAKIL 10005403
- Farming Innovation Pathways (FIP) (2021-2023) Industrial research New Sustainable Solution To Save Healthy Fruit From Spotted Wing Drosophila: STOP-SPOT: 10006250
Publications
Recent publications
- Carvell C, Mitschunas N, McDonald R, Hulmes S, Hulmes L, O'Connor RS, Garratt MPD, Potts SG, Fountain MT, Sadykova D, Edwards M, Nowakowski M, Pywell RF, Redhead JW (2022) Establishment and management of wildflower areas for insect pollinators in commercial orchards. Basic and Applied Ecology, 58, 2-14.
- Shaw B, Nagy, C, Fountain MT (2021) Organic control strategies for use in IPM of invertebrate pests in apple and pear orchards. Insects, 12(12), 1106.
- Hodgkiss D, Brown MJF, Fountain MT, Clare EL (2021) Detection rates of aphid DNA in the guts of larval hoverflies and potential links to the provision of floral resources. Bulletin of Entomological Research. Accepted.
- Garratt, M., de Groot, A., Albrecht, M., Bosch, J., Breeze, T., Fountain, M., Klein, A., McKerchar, M., Park, M., Paxton, R., Potts, S. , Pufal, G., Rader, R., Senapathi, D. , Andersson, G., Bernauer, O., Blitzer, E., Boreux, V., Campbell, A., Carvell, C. Andersson G, Bernauer O, Blitzer, V Boreux, A Campbell, C Carvell, R Földesi, D García, L Garibaldi, P Hambäck, G Kirkitadze E, Kovács-Hostyánszki A, Martins K, Miñarro M, O’Connor R, Radzeviciute R, Roquer-Beni L, Samnegård U, Scott L, Vereecken N, Wäckers F, Webber S, Japoshvili G, Zhusupbaeva A (2021) Opportunities to reduce pollination deficits and address production shortfalls in an important insect pollinated crop. Ecological Applications. 31(8), e02445.
- Arnold S, Dudenhoeffer J-H, Fountain MT, James KL, Hall DR, Farman DI, Wäckers FL, Stevenson PC (2021) Bumble bees show an induced preference for flowers when primed with caffeinated nectar and a target floral odour. Current Biology, 31(18), 4127-4131.