Barbara Barratt

Barbara Ingeborg Patricia Barratt is a New Zealand entomologist and biocontrol expert. In 2022, she was elected as fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi.

Barbara Barratt
Other names	Barbara Ingeborg Patricia Barratt
Alma mater	Durham University
Scientific career
Institutions	AgResearch
Thesis	Studies on a sex pheromone in Stegobium paniceum (L.) (Coleoptera; Anobiidae) (1975)
Doctoral advisor	Lewis Davies

Early life and education

Barratt was born in England and has recalled that an interest in science was influenced by her father and a teacher who took her on nature walks to collect "creepy crawlies". At this stage she knew she wanted to get involved in natural history, particularly involving insects.^[1] She completed her PhD at Durham University in 1975, with a thesis on the sex pheromones of the drugstore beetle.^[2][3] She arrived in New Zealand as a postdoctoral fellow in 1978.^[4]

Honours and awards

In 2011 Barratt was elected as one of only twenty Fellows of the Entomological Society of New Zealand.^[5] Her nomination, written by Stephen Goldson and Rod Emberson, noted her pioneering biocontrol work, but also her contribution to the understanding of the impacts of agriculture and fire on native grassland ecosystems.^[4]

In March 2022 Barratt was elected as Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi. The society said, "Barbara Barratt pioneered internationally relevant research into the biosafety of introduced biocontrol agents for insect pests, which is now being widely applied domestically and internationally. In the 1990s this was a new, contentious and complex aspect of applied ecology. A key example of impact is Barratt’s contribution to the identification and biosafety assessment of a parasitoid wasp for biocontrol of clover root weevil. Through her vision and determination, Barratt has become a leader in the field, both in New Zealand and internationally."^[6]

Barratt is president of the International Organisation for Biocontrol.^[6] She is an honorary Professor at the University of Otago.^[7]

References

1. Rae, Sally (4 April 2022). "Recognition for 'pioneering' AgResearch biocontrol scientist". Otago Daily Times. Rural Life. Archived from the original on 10 May 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
2. "December Congregation". University of Durham Gazette. XXI (New Series): 64. 31 January 1976. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
3. Barbara Barratt (1975), Studies on a sex pheromone in Stegobium paniceum (L.) (Coleoptera; Anobiidae) (Doctoral thesis), Wikidata Q112181407
4. Goldson, S.L.; Emberson, R.M. (15 July 2011). "Nomination of Dr Barbara Barratt as a Fellow of the Entomological Society of New Zealand" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
5. "Fellowship of the society – Entomological Society of New Zealand". Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
6. "Researchers and scholars at the top of their fields elected as Fellows". Royal Society Te Apārangi. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
7. Department of Botany. "Our People in Botany". www.otago.ac.nz. Retrieved 20 March 2022.