Dimitri Forero joins the PBI project as a PhD student. His dissertation will be part of the PBI project goals. He will study the Neotropical Orthotylini. This will include taxonomic research as well as a assessment of phylogenetic relationships.

Dimitri became fascinated with the Heteroptera early as an undergraduate student in Colombia. In those years he studied mainly the Reduviidae as well as other Neotropical families. He gained field experience collecting Heteroptera in several different regions of Colombia, ranging from the Caribbean coast, the Orinoco, and the Amazon, to the Andes. After obtaining his BSc in Biology in 1998, he was involved in different aspects of entomological research. He had the opportunity to work at the "Instituto Alexander von Humboldt", where he started a Heteroptera collection with specimens collected by himself as well as other material from projects and localities from all the country. In subsequent years he was a research associate of some of the main Colombian insect collections. Prior to beginning his PhD under PBI support, he worked for the Colombian Flower Exporters Association. He was hired as an entomologist to deal mainly with the identification of Thysanoptera crop pests. That gave him a different perspective on entomological problems. Also in those years he realized the importance and relevance of systematics for a variety of audiences.

I am convinced that this project is a great opportunity to develop not only the knowledge, but also the tools and methods, about how to deal with extremely diverse groups such as the Orthotylinae and Phylinae. I think that the achievements obtained here, will serve to show a wider audience why Miridae and Heteroptera as a whole, are important subjects of study.