This website uses cookies

We use cookies to personalize content and ads, and to analyze our traffic and improve our service.

Cookies that the site cannot function properly without. The information they store is not sent anywhere.
Statistic cookies help us understand how visitors interact with websites by collecting and reporting information anonymously.
Marketing cookies are used to track visitors across websites. The intention is to display ads that are relevant and engaging for the individual user and thereby more valuable for publishers and third party advertisers.

Dr. Mitchel Bourne

University of Zurich
Headshot

About me:

I am a biologist with a strong background in plant and insect sciences and, with a special interest in insect-host location (or to say in a simple way: how insects find things).

During my PhD at Wageningen University I worked on the host-location hyperparasitoid wasps, which are the natural enemies of parasitoid wasps, and I studied how to manage to find their very specific host (a parasitized herbivore) in complex environments. Currently, I am a postdoctoral researcher in the vector entomology group at the University of Zürich. Here, I work on mosquito host location and the role of bacteria-produced human body odors in this process. 

In my free-time, I enjoy being outdoors, doing activities like long hikes, climbing, and running when the weather is right. On colder days I don’t mind staying inside, reading books (mostly detectives), and playing (video)games.

Key publications:

  • PhD thesis titled: The enemy of your enemy’s enemy: Host location of hyperparasitoids in multitrophic complexity, Wageningen University (2023)
  • Cuny MAC*, Bourne ME*, Dicke M, Poelman EH. 2021. The enemy of my enemy is not always my friend: Negative effects of carnivorous arthropods on plants. Functional Ecology 35: 2365–2375.
  • Bourne ME*, Gloder G*, Weldegergis BT, Slingerland M, Ceribelli A, Crauwels S, Lievens B, Jacquemyn H, Dicke M, Poelman EH. 2023. Parasitism causes changes in caterpillar odours and associated bacterial communities with consequences for host-location by a hyperparasitoid. PLoS Pathogens 19: e1011262.
  • Bourne ME, Lucas-Barbosa D, Verhulst NO. 2024. Host-location by arthropod vectors: Are microorganisms in control? (out soon)

Reach us