Café Scientifique - Blowing in the wind: Aerobiology explains allergies, disease epidemics and even rainfall

There’s a lot of biology going on in the air that we breathe – you might not notice it unless you suffer from hay fever or asthma but in addition to pollen and fungal spores, lots of other microbes, spores of lower plants like mosses and ferns, small animals and their eggs, plus quite a lot of things you might not want to know about - are in the air.  This Café Scientifique presentation reveals how biological particles disperse, explains human and plant disease outbreaks, how we can monitor bio-diversity and maybe influence where it rains.

Jon West is a principal research scientist at Rothamsted Research, working on applied crop protection projects. Jon obtained a BSc in Biology from Royal Holloway, London in 1990 and a PhD in Plant Pathology at Reading in 1994.  Jon’s work has focused on the biology and control of fungal diseases, including early warning of diseases by detecting airborne spores, optical sensing of disease symptoms, measurement of plant disease resistance and the survival and dispersal of spores.  Jon is a visiting Professor at the University of Hertfordshire and has been recognized with an honorary Professorship from the Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China and Hebei Agricultural University, China.

Café Scientifique is a place where, for the price of a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, anyone can come to explore the latest ideas in science and technology. Meetings take place in cafes, bars, restaurants and even theatres, but always outside a traditional academic context. Anyone is welcome to come and learn something new, ask questions, and join in the discussion.