Xesus Feas

Prof. Dr. Xesús Feás has a keen focus of the invasive Vespa velutina (Vv) and methods for controlling the species. Xesús started the first experimental apiary registered to research Asian hornet presence and honey bees response and to monitor the impact of Vv in honey bee colonies.  He first began working with beekeepers 15 years ago and now carries out a project called VES_PAR (Vespa velutina Participatory Action Research) where scientists and beekeepers try to answer from an honest point of view all questions related to Vv.  His work related to Vv includes: synthesis of sexual pheromones involved in insect mating, developing a toxic bating, obtaining venom and micro CT images, testing commercial traps, devices to protect apiaries, extraction and characterization of chitin from Vv  and measurement the impact of the Asian hornet in public health and other productive sectors. Xesús is the youngest member of the Academy of Veterinary Sciences of Galicia. Academic background includes a degree in Veterinary Medicine, Food Science and Technology and the obtention of a PhD in Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition and Bromatology with a European Degree. Research placements include the National University of Córdoba (Argentine), the General Organic Chemistry Institute-CSIC (Spain), and also in the firms Picometrics (France) and Bionostra (Madrid), at the Centre for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (Lund University, Sweden), and at the Polytechnic Institute of Viana de Castelo (Portugal). Editor, author and/or coordinator of six books and many articles in international scientific journals. His findings are summarized in more than 60 publications in indexed journals.