María Teresa MARTÍNEZ FERRER

Maria Teresa Martinez Ferrer (PhD in Agricultural Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Valencia) is a senior researcher at the Government of Catalonia’s Agrifood Research and Technology Institute (IRTA) since 1991, primarily on citrus entomology, within the Sustainable Plant Protection Program. Her research work focuses on pest biology, ecology and seasonal dynamics, the development of sampling methods, establishing economical thresholds for intervention, and the improvement of chemical, biological, cultural and biotechnical pest control methods. She was associate lecturer for Production Technologies II: Plant Protection at the International University of Catalonia (UIC) in the Horticulture and Gardening Bachelor’s Degree.

She has played an active role on the Catalonia Citrus Crops Integrated Production Committee since it was established in 1994. This group was founded and continues to update the technical standards for citrus production. She is also the Technical Coordinator of Citrus Committee of Fruit.Net Program (Government of Catalonia ) for the optimization of the application of phytosanitary products and the reduction of residues on fruit. She joined the Subtropical and Citrus Crop Pests National Working Group from 1991 until it ended in 2011.
She has been involved in numerous national and international public-funded research projects and numerous contracts with private companies all in the field of biological and integrated pest control for citrus crops. She has participated in national and international congresses, and has extensive experience of knowledge transfer through training courses, seminars and workshops addressed to technicians and farmers. She has published more than 60 scientific and technical articles.