Marc De Meyer is an entomologist at the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA, Tervuren, Belgium). He has a PhD in zoology. He joined the RMCA in 1998, after working in Africa for 10 years. He is head of the invertebrates unit, acting head of the department of African Biology, and member of the directive and scientific committees at the RMCA. He is also the RMCA co-ordinator of the Join Experimental Molecular Unit (JEMU) and the BopCo (Barcoding Facility of tissues and organisms of policy concern) unit. His field of expertise is taxonomy, systematics and phylogeny of Diptera with emphasis on particular African groups including tephritid fruit flies. He published more than 250 articles and book chapters on different aspects of Diptera. In recent years he has coordinated and participated in national and international research programmes on fruit flies in Europe and Africa. He is currently the chairman of the TEAM (tephritid workers of Europe, African and the Middle East) steering committee, member of the scientific committee of the CORAF/WECARD support project of the regional plan for control and monitoring of fruit flies in West Africa (SPRMF) and member of the technical advisory committee of the Integrated Biological Control Applied Research Programme (EU IBCARP). He has acted as organizer or convener of international conferences and sessions on fruit flies and Diptera. He is subject editor for Journal of Insect Science, ZooKeys and member of the editorial panel of the Manual of Afrotropical Diptera. He was recently editor-in-chief on a special issue on the resolution of cryptic species complexes in Tephritidae and co-editor of the book ‘Fruit Fly Research and Development in Africa – Towards a Sustainable Management Strategy to Improve Horticulture. He acts as an expert consultant for the Joint Division of FAO/IAEA (Food and Agriculture Organization and International Atomic Energy Agency. He is the Technical Manager of the FF-IPM project, as well as Work Package leader for tasks related to the development and enhancement of tools and methods for fruit fly prevention (WP3). Dr Nikos T. Papadopoulos, PhD, Professor of Applied Entomology, leads the laboratory of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology at the University of Thessaly (director since 2006). He obtained his PhD in 1999 (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), did postdoctoral work (2001-2003) at the University of California Davis, and joined the University of Thessaly in 2004. Papadopoulos’ lab is active in the field of life-history evolution, insect ecology, behaviour and management with special emphasis on fruit flies of the family Tephritidae. A substantial part of his recent research regards the management of fruit flies, using environmental friendly tactics such as the Sterile Insect release. Over the last few years he became interested in precision pest management and his group is intensively working on this field of research. The invasion biology of fruit flies and those factors that regulate them is also in the core interest of his lab. Nikos Papadopoulos has published more than 100 papers in high impact international peer-reviewed scientific journals (e.g. Aging Cell, PLoS ONE, Proceedings of the Royal Society London, Mechanisms of Aging and Development, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, Scientific Reports, Journal of Insect Physiology etc.) and his papers have received more than 2300 citations an H-index=24, i10 index= 74. He has communicated more than 150 papers in national and international workshop and conferences. He has been coordinating and/or participating in more than 40 National, and International research projects funded among others by the National Institute on Aging (USA), and the FAO/IAEA, ENPI MED, LIFE. He served as the Chair of the scientific group TEAM (Tephritid workers of Europe, Africa and the Middle East) (2004 – 2012), member of the steering committee of TEAM (2004 – 2014), member of the International Fruit Fly of Economic Importance, Steering Committee (2012 – 2014). Prof. Papadopoulos is a member of the Council of International Organization of Biological Control (IOBC-WPRS) since 2013. He was/is the supervisor of 7 PhD theses and 10 MSc theses. He is member of the Editorial Board of Entomologia Hellenica, associate editor of Plos One, associate editor of Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, and associate editor of the journal “Current Research Journal of Biological Sciences”, Guest Editor of the Journal of Applied Entomology and Psyche, and acts as a regular reviewer for more than 40 international peer-reviewed journals. He has been a reviewer of National and International research proposals (USDA, COST actions, ERA-Net, Bard, etc.). Nikos Papadopoulos has served in many committees for the promotion of research and academic staff in several national and international institutes (the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Agricultural University of Athens, Democritus University of Thrace, Macquarie University Australia, University of California Davis, South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF). He is a Member of 4 national and International Scientific Associations and member of the organizing and scientific committee of more than 5 international conferences, symposia and workshops. He acts as an expert consultant in international organizations such as Joint Division of FAO/IAEA (Food and Agriculture Organization and International Atomic Energy Agency) and NICCOD. Prof. Josep A. Jaques, PhD (formerly, Josep A. Jacas) is a full professor at Universitat Jaume I de Castelló (UJI) and has almost 30 years’ experience in agricultural entomology (Researcher ID: B-8352-2009; orcid.org/0000-0003-1353-1727; h-index: 22). He is the leader of the UJI research group “Integrated Pest Management” and responsible for the Associate Unit with the Agricultural Entomology Group of the Valencian Institute of Agricultural Research (IVIA; ivia.gva.es). His areas of expertise include insect and mite biology, population ecology, development of sampling techniques, quarantine treatments, biological control, pest management systems, and pest risk analysis. He has been involved in research activities dealing with sustainable pest management starting with his PhD in 1988 and especially focused on citrus since 1996. He is an expert of EFSA’s Plant Health Panel since 2015, a member of the Executive Committee of the International Organization for Biological Control (IOBC-Global, elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2016) and associate editor of BioControl (IF2017 = 1.924; Q1; http://www.springer.com/life+sciences/entomology/journal/10526). Slawomir A. Lux is the founder, sole owner and principal investigator of the micro-enterprise inSilico-IPM (www.insilico-ipm.eu). He has the formal multidisciplinary background: MSc in organic chemistry, MSc in animal ecology, PhD in agricultural sciences (entomology). Before founding the inSilico-IPM SME, he was employed at the Warsaw Life Sciences University (2007-2015) as a WULS-SGGW professor, and earlier at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) in Kenya (1991-2007) as the Principal Scientist and Programme Leader of the African Fruit Fly Initiative. He specialises in the behaviour, ecology and modelling of European and African fruit flies of economic concern, such as R. cerasi, C. capitata, C. cosyra, C. rosa, C. fasciventris, C. anona, B. dorsalis. He has a documented track record in fundraising for R&D projects, development of novel IPM methods and packages, and their implementation on a regional scale. He was the leader and author/co-author of many regional and international fruit fly projects with a total value of over 14mln Euro, awarded by international donors such as EC FP7 & H2020, IFAD, FAO, IAEA, BMZ, GTZ, RELMA, SAREC. He also served as a member of Management Committee at ICIPE and also other organisations, e.g. International Tropical Fruit Network, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, TEAM, Polish Ethological Society, being the founding member for several of them. During 16 years of work at ICIPE, he founded and trained an initial group of fruit fly experts and practitioners in Africa, doctors and post-docs, who are currently leading fruit fly R&D in various African countries. Some of them are now full partners of the FF-IPM project. Since 1993, he regularly serves as an international expert/consultant to a number of organisations such as EC, FAO, IAEA, ICRAF, IITA, etc., as well as a manuscript reviewer in Nature Communications, Frontiers, PLOS One, Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, Bulletin of Entomological Research, Physiological Entomology, Journal of Chemical Ecology, Journal of Applied Horticulture, Florida Entomologist, International Journal of Tropical Insect Science, Insect Science and its Application, etc. Dr Hélène Delatte, PhD, Entomologist and population geneticist, she leads one of the three teams of the PVBMT unit (Réunion, France) dedicated to Ecological dynamics in island environments. She obtained her PhD at the University of Wageningen (the Netherlands) in 2005, then, she obtained her HDR diploma in 2013. After her PhD, she was an assistant professor in 2005-2006 (University of Réunion, France), then, she did a postdoctoral work from 2006 to 2008 at IRD (Montpellier and Réunion, France). Since 2008, she has a lifetime researcher position at CIRAD in the unit PVBMT based in La Réunion. Her researches involve insect bio-ecology, population genetics, virus interactions, and behaviour. She has worked on several insect-vector systems. Hélène Delatte has published more than 70 papers in international peer-reviewed scientific journals (e.g. Molecular ecology, PLoS ONE, Biological invasions, BMC genetics, etc.) and her papers have received more than 2300 citations, she has an H-index of 24 (google scholar index). She has been coordinating and/or participating in more than 15 National, and International research projects funded among others by Europe (EAFDR, EFDR, Interreg, Erafrica), the FAO/IAEA, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Belspo, Ecophyto programs… She is a member of the scientific committee of the TEAM (Tephritid workers of Europe, Africa and the Middle East) since 2012. She has/is the supervisor of 13 PhD theses and 16 MSc theses. She acts as a regular reviewer for more than 15 international peer-reviewed journals. She has been a reviewer of National and International research proposals. Filippos Karamanlis is a green entrepreneur that participates in startup companies that develop green solutions for various industries. He is responsible for the business development of RNDO Ltd using his diverse experience in several sectors aiming the company’s opening new markets for its products and service. Filippos has a strong record in building and sustaining networks/communities and liaising industry with stakeholders and social partners. He has managed over 40 EU projects for several organizations and orchestrated the design, implementation and evaluation of communication & dissemination plans in the frame of these projects. His academic background is in Applied Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and is an avid bridge player. Dr Darren J. Kriticos, PhD, Principal Research Scientist at Cervantes Agritech and honorary Professor of Applied Ecology at The University of Queensland. Darren obtained his PhD in 2001 (University of Queensland), developing models to explore the effects of climate change on Acacia nilotica. He undertook a postdoctoral fellowship with Cervantes Agritech and the Cooperative Research Centre for Weed Management Systems, working on modelling weed dynamics, including the effects of biological control agents. At this time he also contributed to the development of the ground-breaking DYMEX model for Bactrocera tryoni (Yonow et al, 2004). He joined the Forest Research Institute (latterly Scion Research) in New Zealand in 2003, leading a large-scale project to develop practical management options for an invasive moth, Uraba lugens. He developed a novel method for parameterising CLIMEX models, which resulted in a much-refined assessment of the risks posed by U. lugens to New Zealand forestry. Kriticos’ lab identified a range of suitable management options, including stem injection and a biological control agent. Following a joint venture between Scion and Cervantes Agritech, Darren returned to Australia and re-joined Cervantes Agritech in the Ecosystem Sciences Division, undertaking research to improve pest risk assessment methods. His current research focus is on developing real-time pest alert systems to improve agricultural and horticultural pest management. Darren Kriticos has published more than 200 papers, predominantly in high-impact journals (e.g., Science, Nature Plants, PLOS One, Journal of Applied Ecology, Bulletin of Entomological Research). His research has been cited more than 4000 times, and he has an h-index of 34 and an i10 index of 89. He has served on the organising committee for the International Pest Risk Research Group for more than 10 years and sits on the current Executive Committee. He has contributed to supervising 3 PhD theses and 2 Honours theses. He is a member of the editorial boards of Methods in Ecology and Evolution, PLoS One, Bulletin of Entomological Research, Invasive Plant Science and Management and Neobiota. He has served on the organising and scientific committees for more than 13 international conferences.