Professor Julien Pétillon is a Professor at the University of Rennes, in France where he teaches zoology, ecology and statistics and he’s also deputy director of the UMR ‘Ecobio,’.

He is an international recognized expert in the ecology, evolutionary biology, and systematics of spiders.

Thanks to the French-Cambodian research partnership Hubert Curien Partnership (PHC) Tonlé Sap, supported by the French Embassy in Cambodia, Professor Pétillon was hosted by Dr. Sébastien boyer at the Medical and Veterianry Entomology Unit at Institut Pasteur du Cambodge (IPC).

Professor Pétillon first gave a conference on the drivers of neotropical spider diversity and then participated in an exploratory field mission in Pursat and Koh Kong provinces from November 5th to 7th, 2024.

The mission focused on the potential study of spiders and mosquitoes in ecologically significant regions, including rice fields, plantation areas and mangrove forests.

This fieldwork provides valuable insights for future collaborative projects between his research group and the IPC entomology unit.