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