Dr. Mark Otieno Publications

1. Nderitu, W.P., Jonsson, M., Arunga, E., Otieno, M., Muturi, J.J. and Wafula, G.O. (2022) Tomato leaf miner (Tuta absoluta) incidence and severity in Kirinyaga County, Kenya. East African Agricultural and Forestry Journal. Accepted Article ID: TEAF-2019-0020R1.

2. Allen-Perkins, A., Otieno, M.et al. (2021). CropPol: a dynamic, open and global database on crop pollination. Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3614.

3. Balmford, A., Bradbury, R.B. Otieno, M. et al. (2021). Making more effective use of human behavioural science in conservation interventions. Biological Conservation. 261, 109256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109256.

4. Nielsen, K.S., Bauer, J.M., Otieno, M. et al. (2021). Biodiversity conservation as a promising frontier for behavioural science. Nature Human Behaviour 5, 550–556 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01109-5.

5. Otieno, M., Joshi, N., Rutschmann, B. (2021). Flower visitors of Streptocarpus teitensis: implications for conservation of a critically endangered African violet species in Kenya. PeerJ 9:e10473, https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10473.

6. Otieno, M., Steffan-Dewenter, I., Potts, G. S., Kinuthia, W., Kasina, M.J., Garratt, P.D.M. (2020). Enhancing legume crop pollination and natural pest regulation for improved food security in changing African landscapes. Global Food Security. Volume 26, 100394 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100394

7. Nderitu, W.P., Jonsson, M., Arunga, E., Otieno, M., Muturi, J.J. and Wafula, G.O. (2020) Combining Host Plant Resistance, Selective Insecticides, and Biological Control Agents for Integrated Management of Tuta absoluta. Advances in Agriculture. Vol. 2020, Article ID 6239491, https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/6239491.

8. Döke, A.M., McGrady, C.M., Otieno, M., Grozinger, C.M. and Frazier, M. (2019) Colony Size, Rather Than Geographic Origin of Stocks, Predicts Overwintering Success in Honey Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in the Northeastern United States. Journal of Economic Entomology. https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toy377.

9. Nderitu, W.P., Muturi, J.J., Otieno, M., Arunga, E. and Jonsson, M. (2018) Tomato Leaf miner (Tuta absoluta) (Meyrick 1917) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) prevalence and farmer management practices in Kirinyanga County, Kenya. Journal of Entomology and Nematology, https://doi.org/10.5897/JEN2018.0208.

Conferences and Workshop presentation

1. Otieno, M. Making of a career in insect mediated ecosystem services research, DAAD Alumni Forum “Creating change”, 1 - 7 July 2022, Wuerzburg, Germany.

2. Otieno, M. Conservation of a critically endangered African violet species through management of its pollinators and habitat in Taita Hills, Kenya, 30th International Congress for Conservation Biology – virtual event –December, 2021.

3. Otieno, M. Global native bee declines threat chains. Nudging for Nature workshop, 6-10 January, 2020, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

4. Otieno, M. & Steffan-Dewenter, I. Factors driving legume pollination in lower Franconia, Germany. Alexander von Humboldt networking meeting, November, 6-8, 2019, Hamburg, Germany.

5. Alexander von Humboldt Award Winners Meeting, October 16 – 20, 2019, Bonn, Germany.

6. Otieno, M., Sheena C.S., Woodcock, B.A., Wilby, A., Vogiatzakis, I.N., Mauchline, A.L., Gikungu, M.W. and Potts S.G. Local management and landscape drivers of bee functional guilds in pigeon pea crop in Kenya. 2018 ESA, ESC, and ESBC Joint Annual Meeting (Entomology 2018), 11-14 November 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

7. Otieno, M., Fleischer, S.J. and Watrous, K. Ecosystem service delivery in diverse tropical and temperate agricultural systems: the role of landscape context and farm management. 62nd ESA Annual Meeting, November 16–19, 2014. Portland, OR. USA.

8. Otieno, M., Biddinger, J.B., Joshi, K.J., Fleischer, S.J., Rajotte, E.G. The role of landscape heterogeneity surrounding uniformly managed orchards in enhancing apple pollination. Eastern Branch 2014 Annual Meeting, March 15–18, 2014, Williamsburg, VA, USA.

9. Otieno, M., Biddinger, D. J., Fleischer, S. J. Joshi, N. K. and Rajotte E. The uniqueness of Pennsylvania landscape in determining the community composition of native bees delivering pollination services to apples. 61st ESA Annual Meeting, November 10–13, 2013, Austin, TX. USA.

10. Otieno, M., Woodcock, B.A., Wilby, A., Vogiatzakis, N.G., Mauchline, A.L., Gikungu, M and Potts, S.G. (2013) Local management and landscape structure drive pollinator community and crop pollination in East Africa. International Conference on Pollinator Biology, Health and Policy August 14-17, 2013, University Park, PA, USA.

11. Otieno, M., Woodcock, B.A., Wilby, A., Vogiatzakis, N.G., Mauchline, A.L., Gikungu, M. and Potts, S.G. Functional responses of bee communities to local management and landscape structure in pigeon pea cropping system in Kenya. 50th Anniversary of the Association of Tropical Biodiversity and Conservation and the Organization for Tropical Studies, June 23 – 27, 2013. San Jose, Costa Rica.

12. Otieno, M., Woodcock, B.A., Wilby, A., Vogiatzakis, N.G., Mauchline, A.L., Gikungu, M and Potts, S.G. Linking landscape context and local habitat management to insect pollination and pest control in pigeon pea.10th INTECOL Conference, August 16 -21, 2009. Brisbane, Australia.

13. Otieno, M. The interactive effects of landscape context and farm management on pollinators and natural enemies of pests in pigeon pea. Poster presentation: Society for Conservation Biology Global Meeting, July 13-18, 2008, Chattanooga, TN., USA.

14. Otieno, M. The role of pro-poor nature-based businesses in promoting wildlife conservation in wildlife migratory corridors of Kenya. Student Conference for Conservation Science, March, 21-23, 2005, Cambridge, UK.

15. Otieno, M. The ecological impact of the invasive water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) on the phytoplankton community diversity in wastewater habitats in Kenya. Society for Conservation Biology Conference, July, 2003, Minnesota, USA.

Grants/ongoing projects

1. 2022 – 2025: Capacity building to conduct baseline wildlife surveys of invertebrates in Alpine and Montane forests ecosystems in the highest mountains in East Africa – project funded by the JRS Biodiversity Foundation.

2. 2022 - 2023: Mutualists and antagonists of wild coffee in coastal Kenya and the Taita hills project funded by Harper Adams University QR Funding.

3. 2022 – 2023: Promoting the conservation of the African Leopard Orchid (Ansellia africana) through management of its pollinator diversity and habitat in Kenya – project funded by the American Orchid Society.

4. 2022 – 2023: Leveraging on lessons learned from COVID-19 among smallholder farmers to build resilience for future shocks in Embu county, Kenya – project funded by Centre of Excellence for Global Food Security and Defence, USA.

5. 2022 – 2023: Understanding the mechanisms underlying the control of aggressiveness in honey bees in high and low highland areas of Kenya - in collaboration with University of Würzburg, Germany.

6. 2022 – 2023: Assessing landscape effects on bee communities pollinating basil herb flowers in collaboration with Ulm University, Germany.

7. 2022 – 2023: Measuring the predation rates on live and artificial insect prey to determine if they follow similar latitudinal patterns in collaboration with Turku, Finland.

8. 2020 – 2022: Exploring the predictive ability of data-driven, statistical and mechanistic models on crop pollination in collaboration with the Universidad Nacional de Río Negro, Argentina.

9. 2022 – 2023: Teaching field courses in Tropical Cropping Systems, Soils and livelihoods in Kenya in collaboration with ETH Zürich, Switzerland.

10.2022 – 2023: Teaching field courses in animal ecology and tropical biology in Kenya in collaboration with the Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Germany.

11. 2022 – 2023: Facilitating workshops on proposal writing and conducting field ecology and conservation projects in Kenya in collaboration with the Tropical Biology Association, UK.