Keynote Speakers - ICSZ
Nokuthula MBANYANA-NHLEKO
Iziko Museums of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa
Nokuthula is a Curator of Entomology at Iziko Museums of South Africa. Her research focus is on systematics and biogeography of ants in southern Africa. Her current projects are focusing on understanding the historical and contemporary evolutionary processes and patterns that have shaped ant diversity and distributions in the arid regions of southern Africa, through using integrative approaches that combine molecular and morphological data. Her research also includes investigating the physiological adaptations of these ants to arid environments. This research has applications towards decision making around climate change mitigation as it provides a useful model to make conservation management recommendations for other insect species endemic to these dry regions. Bringing the knowledge generated through science to the mainstream of exhibitions and telling new stories related to societal benefit is of keen interest to Nokuthula.
Zoë LINDO
Western University, Ontario, Canada
Zoë is an expert in soil biodiversity and ecosystem function, focusing on ecosystems that are currently undergoing dramatic changes in soil biodiversity due to land use and climate change. Her expertise is in the taxonomy and ecology of mites, specifically oribatid mites, and is co-author of the book Oribatid Mites: Taxonomy, Ecology and Biogeography. Zoë’s work includes several United Nations – Food and Agriculture Organization (UN-FAO) initiatives including a lead author on The State of Knowledge on Soil Biodiversity (2020), and a Vice-Chair of the International Network on Soil Biodiversity (NETSOB) leading Best Practices to Conserve and Protect Soil Biodiversity. Zoë is Editor-in-Chief of Pedobiologia – Journal of Soil Ecology and the lead host scientist for the next Global Soil Biodiversity Conference in 2026 in Victoria, Canada
Other ICSZ speakers: to be coming….
Keynote Speakers - ICA
Daoyuan YU
Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
Daoyuan’s research concerns the systematics, evolution, and ecology of Collembola, with a particular emphasis on the superfamily Tomoceroidea. Presently, he is most interested in employing phylogenomic approaches to uncover the evolutionary patterns of Collembola from shallow to deep time, and from local to global scales.
Louis DEHARVENG
Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, Paris, France
During Louis’ career he investigated the taxonomy, phylogeny, biogeography and ecology of Collembola. He also investigated cryptic diversity revealed by barcoding, community ecology of Collembolan assemblages along ecological gradients and the distribution, diversity, and phylogeny of cave fauna at the world scale. Louis has been instrumental in advancing Collembola systematics in Africa.
Programme at a glance
Themes: SUBMIT ABSTRACT
ICA Sessions
Ecology Physiology/Life history | Taxonomy Molecular biology | |
ICSZ Sessions | ||
Soil Biodiversity for sustainable agriculture Ecology and ecosystem functioning Soil foodwebs Soil biodiversity in a changing world | Conservation of soil biodiversity Metagenomics Global soil biodiversity patterns Novel techniques in soil biodiversity research |
Credits: Foodicons Collection
Mon. 26th August | Tue. 27th August | Wed. 28th August | Thu. 29th August | Fri. 30th August | ||||||||||||
Registration and welcoming Opening speech | ICSZ sessions | ICSZ sessions | ICSZ sessions | |||||||||||||
Coffee break | Coffee break | Coffee break | Coffee break | |||||||||||||
ICSZ sessions | ICSZ sessions | ICSZ sessions | Poster session ICSZ sessions | |||||||||||||
Lunch | ||||||||||||||||
ICSZ sessions | Workshops | ICA sessions | ICSZ sessions | |||||||||||||
Coffee Break | Coffee Break | Coffee Break | Coffee Break | |||||||||||||
ICSZ sessions | Poster session | ICA sessions | Closing ceremony | |||||||||||||
Welcome cocktail | Gala dinner |
Credit: Frank Ashwood