Sophie Bouvaine

I am a postdoc working on aphids and sterol nutrition. I am interested in defining, among the diversity of phytosterol, which ones are good and bad for the insect. Insect sterol nutrition is an exciting field as it could be used in developing novel insect control strategy. I graduated for my PhD in February 2010 from theUniversity of York, UK. My PhD was under the supervision of Angela Douglas and my work was about the impact of endosymbionts on luteovirus transmission by aphids which I conducted half at the University of York and half here, at Cornell. I received my B. A and my Master on plant science at the University of Rennes, France. Outside the lab I enjoy hiking and discovering the surroundings of Ithaca.I am conducting a PhD on the transmission of plant viruses by aphids, including the impact of the aphid endosymbiontBuchnera on the transmission of Barley Yellow Dwarf viruses by the aphids Rhopalosiphum padi and Sitobion avenae.