Research interests

• Controlling termites and decay in poles, piles and bridges.
• Efficacy testing of termiticidal dusts, baits, soil chemical barriers and physical barriers.
• Exotic timber pests

Background

Martin Horwood is a Research Officer with Forest Resources Research Unit, West Pennant Hills. He has over 25 years experience in entomological research in areas such as locusts and grasshoppers, lucerne pests, stored products pests, urban entomology, Queensland fruit fly and the sterile insect technique. For the past decade or so most his research has concerned pests of timber, particularly termites.

Martin worked with NSW Agriculture* from 1981 to 1996, when he left to work in the private sector. In 1998 he took up a position as Research Officer, Timber Protection with Forests NSW*. From 2000 to 2008 he led a large project funded by the electricity networks that evaluated methods for controlling termites in power poles. Recently Martin has become involved with the Forest Health Surveillance program.

*NSW Department of Primary Industries was formed on July 1, 2004 through an amalgamation of NSW Agriculture, NSW Fisheries, State Forests of NSW and the NSW Department of Mineral Resources.

Qualifications

• B.Sc. University of Sydney 1981
• M.Sc. Macquarie University 1992

Current projects

• Evaluating termiticides and baits for controlling termites in in-service power poles
• A long term field trial of soil termiticides and a physical barrier
• Evaluating the efficacy of variants to standard preservatives for protecting power poles from decay and termites
• Assessing the longevity of soil termiticide residues
• Evaluating the efficacy of timber fumigants for protecting power poles form decay and termites
• Forest health assessments

Recent Publications

Horwood MA (2007) Rapid degradation of termiticides under field conditions. Australian Journal of Entomology. 46: 75-78.

Horwood MA (2006) Termite treatments for power poles. Proceedings of the International Conference on Overhead Line. March 27-30, 2007. Fort Collins, Colorado.

Horwood MA and Eldridge RH (2005) Termites in NSW. Part 1. Termite biology. NSW Department of Primary Industries Technical Publication Number 21. 4 pp.

Horwood MA and Eldridge RH (2005) Termites in NSW. Part 2. Termite infestations: inspection, detection and treatment. NSW Department of Primary Industries Technical Publication Number 22. 10 pp.

Horwood MA (2004) Assessing the effectiveness of a range of termite treatment options for protecting wood poles against termite attack. Forest and Wood Products Research and Development Corporation. Report number PN01.1300: 1-19.

Professional associations and activities

• Entomological Society of NSW
• The Australian Entomological Society

Fields of Research

• 070505 Forestry Pests, Health and Diseases
• 079902 Fertilisers and Agrochemicals (incl. Application)

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)

Keyword/phrase list of research interests

• Termite control
• Exotic timber insects