Dr Thomae Kakouli-Duarte

Research Interests

I have research experience in the areas of agri-environmental science, specifically, biological control of insect pests using entomopathogenic nematodes, the development of DNA-based diagnostics of quarantine insect pests, bumblebee molecular ecology and conservation, and the application of nematodes and their assemblages as indicators or environmental change.  I have commenced my career at undergraduate level obtaining a BSc in Technology of Crop Production from the Technological Educational Institute of Western Macedonia, Greece, and then I qualified at MSc level in the Technology of Crop Protection at the University of Reading, UK. In Reading, I also obtained a PhD on the biological control of Otiorhunchs sulcatus using entomopathogenic nematodes. I then completed two postdoctoral fellowships in Maynooth University, on the molecular genetics for entomopathogenic nematodes and on the development of molecular probes for the identification of tephritid fruit flies. Subsequent to these, I was appointed Assistant Lecturer at SETU Carlow, and I am currently a Lecturer in the Department of Science Health. I am also the Director of enviroCORE in SETU Carlow. My research interests encompass the areas that I have mentioned above, and have expanded in the areas of sustainable plant parasitic nematode management and vermitechnology.

Engagement and Collaboration

I have initiated and developed the international symposia on nematodes as environmental bioindicators, under the auspices of the Association of Applied Biologists. I am also a member of the European Society of Nematologists, the Royal Entomological Society Recently, the Environmental Sciences Association of Ireland, and I sit in the editorial boards of many journals as well as the PhD examination boards of national and international universities. I have lead a team of enviroCORE researchers in a European collaborative consortium securing 3.7 million euro to work on nutrient conservation in soils. I work with the Directors of the other COREs of the Institute to develop common projects and I currently collaborate in a gameCORE initiated research project. Moreover, recently I have stated collaboration with the industry giant Alltech on the development of sustainable plant parasitic nematode approaches. I am an avid participant in Institute out-reach and promotion activities, contributing to the Eureka Carlow Festival, organising Science Week visits to  Teagasc Oak Park, judging in SciFest and carrying out school visits. I also promote enviroCORE and SETU Carlow to stakeholders, such as the Irish Farmers Association, the Carlow Enterprise Board, Carlow County Council and the Southern Region Waste Management Office, and others.

Current Research Students

• Egan, Aoife. Plant parasitic nematode interactions and nematode diversity in bioenergy crops. Principal Investigator. PhD.
• Hurley, Mary Jo.  An investigation on the interactions between entomopathogenic nematodes and bacterial endophytes isolated from bioenergy crops.  Principal Investigator. PhD.
• Fitzpatrick, Mary. Analysis of the vermicomposting process and potential for plant growth promotion under Irish conditions. Principal Investigator. MSc.
• Lee, Sook Thin. Development and formulation to pre-commercialisation state of an innovative bio-control and plant growth-promoting agent for sustainable agriculture. Principal Investigator. MSc.
• Pulavarty, Anusha. Development of sustainable plant parasitic nematode management approaches. Principal Investigator. MSc.
• Mwana-Scoe, Loriane. Characterisation of microplastics in Irish freshwaters. MSc.
• Uhlemann, Jason. Computer assisted counting, identification, sorting and monitoring in biological systems. MSc.

Past Research Students

• Courtney, Lucy. Towards the development of Sclerotinia trifoliorum resistant white clover. MSc. 2006.
• Boyle, Stephen. An investigation of the intraspecific genetic variation and genetic structure of Irish and exotic Steinernema feltiae (Nematoda: Steinernematidae). PhD. 2007.
• O’Connor, William, J.K. The design and development of a DNA array for soil nematode identification. MSc. 2009.
• Moreira, Antonio Sergio Camelo Ferrao. Potential impact of bumblebee commercialisation on population genetic structure of Bombus terrestris L. and Bombus lucorum L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae). PhD. 2012.
• Kelly, Eileen. Evaluating the suitability of the nematode Steinernema feltiae (Nematoda: Steinernematidae) as an environmental indicator. PhD. 2015.
• Moran, Samuel. Circadian gene and genetic variation analyses in insects, with special emphasis on Bombus terrestris L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae). MSc. 2016.
• Lally, Richard. Investigating the application, plant growth promotion and genetic potential of three endophytic Pseudomonas fluorescens isolates for use in sustainable agriculture. PhD. 2017.

Areas of interest as a supervisor include

• Entomopathogenic nematology
• Nematode ecology
• Plant nematology
• Biological control
• Conservation entomology
• Pollinators
• Soil
• Aquatic and benthic macroinvertebrate biodiversity
• Molecular ecology
• Vermitechnology
• waste management
• quarantine molecular diagnostics
• biosensors
• bioindicators
• biomonitoring
• sustainable food security.