Alejandro TENA BARREDA

Alejandro Tena completed his PhD thesis at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, where he studied how to improve the biological control of citrus and olive pests. During his PhD, he carried out several stays abroad, including at the University of California, Riverside, where he delved into the use of parasitoids in biological control. He later moved to the Institute of Agricultural Research in Valencia (IVIA), where he worked as principal researcher. Since his arrival at IVIA, he has collaborated in the development of several Integrated Pest Management programs and in the study of the biology of biological control agents. He is currently the director of IVIA.

At a scientific level, Dr. Tena has published more than one hundred scientific manuscripts, most of them related to Integrated Pest Management and Biological Control. He has obtained different national and international projects to work on improving the management of invasive and emerging pests that are currently causing serious damage to European agriculture. He has also several projects to determine alternative food sources for biological control agents.

He is member of the Scientific Board of the Spanish Society of Applied Entomology, and associate editor of different scientific journals. In addition, he has worked for the “European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization” (EPPO) and the “European Food Safety Authority” (EFSA) as an advisor for different agricultural pests. He was the treasurer of the “International Organization for Biological Control” (OIBC) for four years.