Professor Brett Hurley recently attended the IUFRO Ecology and Management of Biotic Disturbances in Forests conference in Fredericton, Canada, where he presented on 'Biological control in plantation forests: challenges, opportunities and lessons from key pest systems'.

The conference covered four main themes: ecology and management of defoliating insects; population dynamics of forest insects; invasive alien species and international trade; and biological control of forest insect pests and pathogens. The meeting brought together delegates from 16 countries working across diverse forest systems. There were also four workshops covering topics such as AI and machine learning in forest ecology, cross-border monitoring and data sharing in forest health, and new approaches for safe international movement of wood commodities, as well as a session on how to transition from research to implementation in biocontrol, facilitated by Prof. Hurley.

The delegates were also treated to a field trip to Fundy National Park, where they were exposed to the dramatic forest disturbance caused by the spruce beetle, a pest native to the area, and learned about the difficulties of managing it.

Conferences like this remain a valuable platform for FABI, whose ongoing work in biological control continues to draw on the kind of collaboration and knowledge exchange these meetings foster. The networks and insights built at events such as this one help keep FABI's research connected to, and informed by, developments happening in forest health programmes around the world.