Mick joined Forest Research in 2022 as Pathology Response Manager, working principally with Pathology and Advisory colleagues to deliver the goals of management and eradication programmes for forestry pathogens, advising on surveillance, diagnosis and disease management.
After gaining a HND in forest management, he managed the tree resource of a local authority, and then he spent twelve years in a dynamic operational role in the Forestry Commission’s Plant Health Forestry Team, and obtained a PgC in Plant Health Management in 2019.
Mick has specialist operational expertise in tree health surveillance, outbreak management, regulation and training, and has experience of numerous UK pest and disease incident responses, including Phytophthora ramorum, Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, Dryocosmus kuriphilus, Cryphonectria parasitica, Ips typographus and Phytophthora pluvialis. He also has field experience of many other pests and pathogens at home and abroad including Xylella fastidiosa, Euwallacea fornicates, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, Anoplophora glabripennis, Phytophthora austrocedri, Phytophthora lateralis, Phytophthora siskiyouensis, Ips cembrae and others.
Affiliations
- Member of the Royal Society of Biology
- Registered Plant Health Professional
Other Research
Biddle, M., Wylder, B., Harris, A. and Webber, J., 2020. Observations of Castanea sativa as a Host of Phytophthora ramorum in England over a Decade. In Proceedings of the seventh sudden oak death science and management symposium: healthy plants in a world with Phytophthora. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-268 (Vol. 268, pp. 70-71).
Wylder, B., Biddle, M., Perez-Sierra, A. and Webber, J., 2020. A healthy world and plants with Phytophthora? Multiple introductions of tree pathogens to a newly established woodland. In Proceedings of the seventh sudden oak death science and management symposium: healthy plants in a world with Phytophthora. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-268 (Vol. 268, pp. 120-121).
Wylder, B., Biddle, M., Harris, A. and Webber, J., 2017. Longevity of active Phytophthora ramorum in terminal tree hosts following the removal of primary sporulating hosts. In Proceedings of the sudden oak death sixth science symposium. Gen. Tech. Rep. GTR-PSW-255. Albany, CA: US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station: 104. (pp. 104-104).
Peer reviewed journal articles
Pérez‐Sierra A, Chitty R, Eacock A, Jones B, Biddle M, Crampton M, Lewis A, Olivieri L, Webber JF. First report of Phytophthora pluvialis in Europe causing resinous cankers on western hemlock. New Disease Reports. 2022;45(1).
Pérez-Sierra A, Jones B, Biddle M, Webber J. (2022). Phytophthora pluvialis- a new threat to forestry? Quarterly Journal of Forestry 116: 128-130.
Wylder, B., Biddle, M., King, K., Baden, R. and Webber, J., 2018. Evidence from mortality dating of Fraxinus excelsior indicates ash dieback (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus) was active in England in 2004–2005. Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research, 91(4) pp.434-443.
