image: Juan Luis Jurat-Fuentes, professor of the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, is the newly appointed president of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology.
Credit: Photo courtesy UTIA.
Juan Luis Jurat-Fuentes, professor in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, was elected to serve as president of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology (SIP). Jurat-Fuentes officially began his appointment at the society’s 56th annual meeting, held July 28 – August 1 in Vienna, Austria.
“Being elected by the SIP members as president is humbling and a great honor. I have big shoes to fill in this role as previous SIP executive councils were led by outstanding leaders,” Jurat-Fuentes said.
Jurat-Fuentes has a long history of involvement with SIP. He first joined the society as a graduate student in 1996. Over the years, Jurat-Fuentes has had several leadership roles within the society, including secretary, trustee, and vice president. “I have been a member of SIP since my first year as a graduate student and I am very excited to have the opportunity to work together with the newly elected Executive Council in growing SIP and promoting its global excellence in invertebrate pathology research.”
At UTIA, Jurat-Fuentes’ research program focuses on the interactions between pests and their pathogens. His work includes developing effective and environmentally friendly insecticidal technologies to support sustainable and safer food and fiber production.
The Society for Invertebrate Pathology is an international scientific organization that promotes research on diseases of invertebrates such as insects, nematodes and spiders. With members from across the globe, SIP works to advance knowledge about these diseases and supports research on biological control methods for managing invertebrate pest populations in agriculture. To learn more about SIP, visit siponline.org.