Barnaby Wylder, Tree Health Operations Manager, Scottish Forestry
Barnaby has been Tree Health Operations Manager for Scottish Forestry’s Tree Health Team since 2024. He has longstanding experience in tree health surveillance previously working for Forestry Commission and Forest Research and has been involved in GB’s response to a broad range of serious tree pests and diseases since 2003.
Katrina Dainton, Research Entomologist, Forest Research
Katy develops Integrated Pest Management (IPM) tools and strategies for forest pests, focusing on monitoring techniques and non-chemical or biological controls for species such as the large pine weevil (Hylobius abietis), pine-tree lappet moth (Dendrolimus pini), and great spruce bark beetle (Dendroctonus micans). Her role also involves horizon scanning for emerging pest threats to British forests and managing the Rhizophagus grandis breeding programme for the biological control of D. micans.
Katy provides expert advice on forest entomology and tree health in northern Britain and is undertaking a part-time PhD at the University of Edinburgh on enhancing IPM in forestry. She joined the Entomology team at Forest Research in 2015 after completing an MSc in Integrated Pest Management at Harper Adams University. Earlier, she worked with Natural England on survey and monitoring projects, following a first career in the arts and heritage sector with the National Trust after completing a BA in Fine Art.
Jason Sumner-Kalkun, Entomology Response Manager, Forest Research
Jason’s career has seen him working on a range of invertebrate pests that have significant impacts on plant health. After completing a PhD at the University of Reading exploring the microbiomes of predatory mites (Phytoseiidae) used in biological control, Jason expanded his biotechnology experience working at SASA, Edinburgh on an industry led R&D project looking at suppressive soils, soil microbiomes and biofumigation methods, to help control Potato Cyst Nematode.
In 2017 Jason began working on emerging insect pests, leading projects at SASA examining the effects of psyllid vectors of plant disease managing international global projects improving our understanding of: psyllid/ Liberibacter ecology, genomics, and diagnostics; feeding behaviour; host-plant interactions; and vector-microbe interactions. Now this experience has transferred to the forestry sector and Jason is leading the Ips project management team, working to eradicate Ips typographus in the UK and understand aspects of its biology in a UK context.
Alistair Yeomans, Forester and Horticulturalist
Alistair is a freelance forester and horticulturalist. He has worked with a number of organisations on different projects, including the Plant Health Centre and Sylva Foundation. Based in Central Scotland but covers the whole UK.
Dr Kate Palmer, Technical & Industry Support Manager, Confor
Kate’s role is to develop and deliver technical services to meet Confor members’ needs. She is also directly involved in developing and managing projects that aid with the economic development of the sector across the UK. Previously Kate worked at Pryor and Rickett Silviculture as a forest manager.
Diego Salvador Alcalde, Landscape Technical & Biologicals Manager, Syngenta Professional Solutions Europe
Diego Salvador Alcalde brings over eight years of specialised expertise to sustainable plant protection across European landscapes. As Technical & Biologicals Manager, he pioneers the integration of conventional and biological control methods through innovative Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies.
A graduate of Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (UPV) with a Master's in forestry engineering, Diego has established himself as a leading expert in tree injection technologies and biological control systems, with particular focus on managing challenging pests such as red palm weevil and pine processionary moth.
Through cross-functional technical initiatives, Diego bridges the gap between research and practical implementation, ensuring that innovative biological solutions reach the professionals who need them most in maintaining healthy, sustainable landscapes across Europe.
Dr Matt Elliot, Plant Health and Biosecurity Scientist, Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh
Matt Elliot is the impact officer for Horticulture and the Natural Environment within the Plant Health Centre. He is a Plant Health and Biosecurity Scientist based at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh. Matt was previously the Tree Health Policy Officer for the Woodland Trust and worked as a plant pathologist at SASA and Forest Research.
His PhD project was based on Phytophthora epidemiology and his experience includes epidemiology of plant pathogens, biosecurity, quantifying the impact of pests and diseases and vulnerability of native habitats to invasion. Matt has brought his expertise to deliver several previous PHC projects.
Ruben Manso, Tree and Wood Properties Team Leader, Forest Research
The overarching aim of Ruben's current research is to forecast the strength class (i.e. quality) of timber from any species in any commercial forest stand anywhere in Great Britain to facilitate decision making. This ambitious goal is founded on two main areas of work: (i) assessing tree and wood properties on standing timber through traditional destructive and non-destructive testing, and modern sensors; and (ii) developing empirical and hybrid models to predict these properties under different silviculture alternatives, climate change scenarios and genetic options, and connect them with the outputs from the sawmills.
The above builds upon a solid background in forestry (BSc Forestry, Technical University of Madrid, 2003; MSc Forestry, University of Valladolid, 2007) and in empirical modelling for forestry applications.
