Our Team
Bugs for Bugs employs about 20 people. We are proud of the contribution this makes to the rural community of Mundubbera. Our staff come from diverse backgrounds and are all dedicated to the work we do in reducing the use of pesticides.
Dan at one of the insectary rooms
Dan Papacek
Dan graduated from the University of Queensland in 1978 with a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Hons 1) majoring in entomology. After graduation he started working on IPM for citrus in Mundubbera. He and his wife Anne started the business that would become Bugs for Bugs in September 1981. Dan was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2001 for service to the citrus industry and IPM. In addition to his work, Dan enjoys flying, riding motorcycles, playing squash and swimming.
Anne Papacek
Anne moved to Mundubbera in 1980 as a teacher. She met Dan and they married later that year. Anne deals with the financial and marketing side of the business. In her spare time she enjoys yoga and reading.
Tony with the mealybug culture
Tony Meredith
Tony manages the insectary and keeps the insect cultures running smoothly. He started work with Bugs for Bugs in 2000 and has since completed a graduate certificate in entomology with the University of Queensland. Tony enjoys problem solving and finding better ways to produce bio control agents. He is passionate about fishing and off-road driving.
Wes co-ordinating the supply of Aphytis wasps to our growers
Wes Allen
Wes grew up and completed his schooling in Mundubbera, joining our team in 2003. He is our administration manager. Wes handles phone enquiries, oversees despatch and ensures the smooth running of our operation. His helpful nature makes him popular with our customers. Wes is currently studying a Bachelor of Business with the University of Southern Queensland.
Jenny checking for pest and beneficial insects in a citrus tree
Jenny Grigg
Jenny joined our team in 2007 to take on the role of IPM consultant. She completed her Bachelor of Applied Science (Horticultural Technology) at the University of Queensland, majoring in Plant Protection. Jenny achieved first class honours with her studies and worked as a Crop Protection Officer and in mosquito eradication before joining Bugs for Bugs. She assists our growers to achieve IPM in their orchards. Jenny has many interests including scuba diving, gardening, craftwork and squash. She enjoys life in a small Queensland town.
Ed and Jenny - our monitoring team
Ed Carlton
Ed was born and bred in Mundubbera and has worked with us since 1999. In that time he has become proficient at many aspects of our business. He now has 9 years experience in monitoring for pest and beneficial insects in orchards, making up our monitoring team with Jenny. He is proficient with several insect cultures including Aphytis and Lacewings. Eddie is capable with his hands and assists Trevor with maintenance when he can. Ed is a natural at sport and enjoys touch football, squash, tennis and table tennis. In fact, he excels in almost any sport he cares to try. Ed enjoys life in the country and loves fishing, camping and hunting for wild pigs.
Estelle with her Aphytis culture
Estelle Prendergast
Estelle has worked with us since 1991 making her our longest-serving team member. She has meticulously cared for our Aphytis culture for many years. Estelle takes great pride in her work and assists in other aspects of the insectary where she can. She has lived in Mundubbera for almost 25 years and is very community-minded. In her spare time she cares for her grandson.
Trevor keeps all our equipment in good order
Trevor Wernecke
Trevor has lived all his life in Mundubbera and is a Boilermaker by profession. We have benefited from his talents since 1991. Trevor is an outstanding tradesman and is responsible for all the unusual equipment we require to breed large numbers of insects for our customers. He can turn his hand to almost anything. Trevor designs and fabricates our equipment, maintains our vehicles, welds to perfection and is generally invaluable. He enjoys fishing and camping in his spare time.
Janelle stamping out sheets of Trichogramma wasps
Janelle Ihle
Janelle started working with us in 1999, making her one of our longest-serving team members. She quickly demonstrated a talent for insect rearing and does a marvellous job of maintaining cultures of Trichogramma, Scale insects, Chilocorus, and a plethora of 'pet cultures'. Janelle is very conscientious and treats her charges as if they were her children. Janelle loves anything to do with bugs and decorates her workplace with toy ladybirds of all shapes and sizes.
Corine Vink
Corine is from the Netherlands, where she studied History at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam. She now lives in Mundubbera, having worked with us since 2004 and is a valuable member of our team. Since joining Bugs for Bugs, Corine has completed a Graduate Certificate in Entomology with the University of Queensland. Corine presently cares for our Lacewing culture but is truly multi-skilled and assists with Sitotroga, Trichogramma and the Fly production when required. She is also able to perform duties in Despatch and in our range of fruit fly products. Corine enjoys life in Mundubbera and spends her spare time reading and riding her motorcycle.
Nancy expertly despatches our insects far and wide
Nancy Zipf
Nancy grew up and completed her schooling in Mundubbera. She attended the University of Central Queensland where she graduated with a Bachelor of Business. Nancy has been with us at Bugs for Bugs since 2004 and manages our Despatch department. She does a great job of ensuring smooth and reliable delivery of our products throughout Australia and overseas. Nancy is a natural sport and excels at netball and tennis.
Liam produces scale insects for our Aphytis culture
Liam Butler
Liam was born and educated in Mundubbera. He started working with Bugs for Bugs in 2004. Liam looks after our very important Oleander scale culture. He has a range of other duties including the maintenance of CO2 supplies. Liam also assists with other cultures as required. When he is not at work liam enjoys sport. He plays squash and soccer and is a keen follower of cricket and football.
Jan preparing cups for Aphytis release
Jan Hildebrandt
Jan has spent many years in Mundubbera. She has been part of our operation since 2005. She performs many duties to keep everything running smoothly and to ensure our facility is spick and span. Jan enjoys reading, gardening and spending time with her family.
David caring for his moth culture
David Fredericks
David grew up in the small rural community of Monogorilby to the south of Mundubbera. He completed his schooling locally and commenced a Bachelor of Applied Science (Applied Physics) at Central Queensland University. He has been part of our team since 2006 and is responsible for the complex and challenging Sitotroga moth culture that forms the basis of our Trichogramma and Lacewing production systems. In his leisure time David is an avid reader. He also enjoys watching movies and honing his computer skills.
Brigid McClelland
Brigid studied at the University of Melbourne and joins us with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Natural Resource Management. She already has extensive experience with IPM in olives and with us will expand her knowledge in this field to include citrus, mangoes and grapes. Brigid is also collaborating with Helen Hofman of QDPI to help manage field trials investigating granulation in citrus. She enjoys life in rural areas and has given her time to Conservation Volunteers Australia to assist with revegetation projects.
Karie Whitehead at the moth egg room
Karie Whitehead
Karie was born in Mundubbera and completed here schooling here. She has worked at Bugs for Bugs for several years and is intimate with several cultures. At present she does a great job part-time, maintaining our moth egg rooms and helping David with the moth production process. Karie is also able to assist with lacewings, aphytis and the fly culture when required. Kaire is married with two young daughters.
Ashley preparing MAT cups for fruit fly control
Ashley Augustine
Ashley was born and bred in Mundubbera, attending the local school. He works part-time at Bugs for Bugs between his studies. Ashley works on weekends in the sitotroga moth production and during his holiday helps in the preparation of our range of fruit fly products. Outside of school and work commitments Ashley is a passionate skateboarder and also enjoys touch football, squash and motorbike riding.
Julie prepares MAT cups for fruit fly control
Julie Kaim
Julie is the most recent member of our talented team. She is from Victoria and has worked on a variety of orchards in recent years. She is also a skilled plant nursery operator. Julie is very well organised and ensures our range of fruit fly products are on schedule. She is also learning the procedures for the Lacewing and Sitotroga cultures. Julie spends her spare time gardening, camping and caring for her pets.
Jack
Jack was also born and bred in Mundubbera. He completed Canine Obedience school with honours in 1999. He has since been employed at Bugs for Bugs in the role of Human Resources Manager. In this capacity Jack has excelled. All of our staff are encouraged to go to Jack with their problems. He rarely shows much interest in these problems and his usual response is 'it's a dog's life - get used to it'. In his spare time (and he seems to have plenty of that), Jack enjoys sleeping, chewing bones, sleeping, eating, and sleeping.