Dr. Eduardo Soares Calixto is a biologist from the Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU), Brazil. He has a master's and PhD in Entomology from the University of São Paulo (USP). He has a strong background in ecological interactions, from antagonisms to mutualisms; animal behavior; and entomology. Currently, he is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Florida, USA, engaged in researching and applying integrated pest management and insect resistance management to important economic insect pests.
Dr. Robert J Marquis is the Professor Emeritus of the Department of Biology, the University of Missouri–St. Louis and the Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa and received his M.A. from Oregon State University. The focus of his research is the ecology and evolution of plant resistance to herbivores. Specifically, he has begun to elucidate the factors that promote or constrain evolutionary changes in plant resistance at the population level. Because herbivores are considered pests of economically important plant species, and because plant and herbivore interactions are often mediated by parasitoids and predators (such as birds), the research in this area often has direct application to management and conservation issues. When possible, he has designed his research to incorporate both basic and applied aspects of the questions under study.
Dr. Helena Maura Torezan-Silingardi is a professor at the Institute of Biology (INBIO), Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU), Brazil. Her research is about natural and agricultural plant science. Her current projects are "Ecological Aspects of plant reproduction, with special attention to Pollinators, pillagers and floral herbivores", "Plant Phenology", "Floral Biology and plant reproductive systems", and "Animal-plant interactions related to fruit production".
Dr. Kleber Del-Claro graduated in Biological Sciences from Universidade Estadual de Campinas (1987), while he got his master's degree in Ecology (1991) and Ph.D. in Ecology from Universidade Estadual de Campinas (1995). He is currently Full Professor at Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU). He has experience in ecology, focusing on the following subjects: animal behavior, behavioral ecology, and the ecology of plant–animal interactions. Coordinator of the graduate program in Ecology at UFU; member of the scientific and research structure committee at UFU; member of the Whitney Harris World Ecology Center (Scientific Board), the University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL), USA; coordinator of agreement terms of cooperation: UFU-UMSL and UFU-BOKU (University of Natural Resources of Vienna); editor of the Tropical Biology theme at the Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (UNESCO); advisor of graduate students at UFU USP (University of São Paulo) and UFJF (Univ. of Juiz de Fora); director of the Biology Institute at UFU, 2013–2017; General Director of Research at UFU, 2017–2021.
