Coelho A

My name is Aloisio Coelho Junior, Biologist, Master and Doctor in entomology. Up to this point in my career, I have been gaining large experience on biological control, having worked with this subject for many years. It started at the begging of my high school period, when I was 16 years old and I was hired by program called “first chance”. The goal of this program was to give opportunities for young students to work on state-owned companies (EPAGRI). That was when I learned about Ephestia kueniella Zeller and Trichogramma for the very first time, since one of my duties was to rear both of these species. After finishing high school, I was approved for the Biology bachelor program (with emphasis in biotechnology) of the Vale do Itajaí University. During my undergraduate program, I kept on working as an intern and laboratory assistant at EPAGRI, however with control of the tomato leafminer Tuta abslouta (Meyrick), using neem oil. I could publish the results from this work in a Brazilian national journal. At the end of my bachelor program I decided to run for a position as a master’s student, at ESALQ under adivising of Professor José R. Postali Parra. In my master’s program, I worked with Ephestia kuehniella (Zeller). From my master thesis, we extracted three scientific articles and one technical bulletin. This bulletin aimed to fulfill extension purposes, teaching how to rear E. kuehniella for biological control programs. During my master’s program, I also had the opportunity to work in a partnership with colleagues on insecticidal effects of nanoencapsulated vegetal extracts in Trichogramma. On this master’s program, I have also carried out a short-term project on use of reflectance profile to classify three Trichogramma species, that are otherwise very challenging to classify. After two years working on my master’s thesis and on parallel projects, I entered an Entomology doctorate program, also at ESALQ and under Parra's adivising. My dissertation was on how the genetic variability influences T. pretiosum as a biological control agent. Its major contribution for Entomology science was the use of molecular makers to evaluate field competition of different strains of the parasitoid. These markers were developed by Professor Richard Stouthamer and Dr. Paul F. Rugman-Jones, from University of California - Riverside. Prof. Richard was my supervisor during a 7-month exchange period at his laboratory, at UCR. Regarding the results from my thesis, we have already published two scientific articles, and have other two yet to be submitted. During my doctorate, I also developed a project to evaluate the effects of modified atmosphere on T. pretiosum, developed with collaboration from laboratory colleagues. At the end of my doctorate, I started to develop a project using Opogona sacchari (Bojer) a banana pest. We published an article regarding a diet to rear this insect. I keep working on this project, among my postdoctoral activities. Concomitantly, I worked as a research and development consultant at a small biological control company. We develop a manner to semi-automate mass produce of Ephestia kuehniella (Zeller) eggs. I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Entomology and Acarology Department of “Luiz de Queiroz” College of Agriculture (ESALQ), University of São Paulo (USP), under the supervision of Prof. Parra. At this postdoctoral position, I carry out several duties, all related to entomology and biological control teaching, research and extension. A great part of these activities is developed in partnership with other postdoctoral colleagues, with researchers and with professors from the University of São Paulo and other institutions. In a nutshell, since the very begging of my career, I have worked with insect biology and biological control considering it my work background.