Professor Roland Perry is based at the University of Hertfordshire, UK. He graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Zoology from Newcastle University, UK, where he also obtained a PhD in Zoology on physiological aspects of desiccation survival of Ditylenchus spp. After a year's post doctoral research at Newcastle, he moved to Keele University, UK, where he taught Parasitology; after 3 years at Keele, he was appointed to Rothamsted Experimental Station (now Rothamsted Research). His research interests centred primarily on plant-parasitic nematodes, especially focusing on nematode hatching, sensory perception, behaviour and survival physiology, and several of his past PhD and post-doctoral students are currently involved in nematology research. He remained at Rothamsted until 2014, when he moved to the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Hertfordshire. He co-edited The Physiology and Biochemistry of Free-living and Plant-parasitic Nematodes (1998), Root-knot Nematodes (2009), Molecular and Physiological Basis of Nematode Survival (2011), the first (2006) and second (2013) editions of the text book, Plant Nematology and Cyst Nematodes (2018) (all CAB International, UK). He is author or co-author of over 40 book chapters and refereed reviews and over 120 refereed research papers. He is joint Editor-in-Chief of Nematology and Chief Editor of the Russian Journal of Nematology. He is joint Editor of the book series Nematology Monographs and Perspectives. In 2001, he was elected Fellow of the Society of Nematologists (USA) in recognition of his research achievements; in 2008 he was elected Fellow of the European Society of Nematologists for outstanding contribution to the science of Nematology; and in 2011 he was elected Honorary Member of the Russian Society of Nematologists. He is a Visiting Professor at Ghent University, Belgium, where he lectures on nematode biology, focusing on physiology and behaviour.
David Wharton's PhD topic at the University of Bristol, after gaining a BSc (Hons) at the same university, was 'The Structure and Function of Nematode Eggshells'. This developed into an interest in nematode survival mechanisms, particularly how they survive freezing and extreme desiccation (anhydrobiosis). After postdoctoral positions at University College Cardiff and the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, David was appointed to a lectureship in Zoology at the University of Otago, New Zealand in 1985, where he is now an Associate Professor. David was awarded a DSc by the University of Bristol in 1997 for his work on the environmental physiology of nematodes. His move to New Zealand gave him the opportunity to work in Antarctica, where he isolated and cultured an Antarctic nematode that is the only organism currently known to survive extensive intracellular freezing. David is the author of two books: A Functional Biology of Nematodes (1986) and Life at the Limits: Organisms in Extreme Environments (2002). He has also published 92 refereed research papers and seen book chapters. His publications are available here: http://www.zoology.otago.ac.nz/pubs/wharton/daw.html
