Eve Veromann

Eve Veromann (born 27 May 1961) is an Estonian entomologist and academic. She is a full professor at the Estonian University of Life Sciences in the Chair of Plant Health, where her research focuses on integrated pest management, agroecology, conservation biological control, and the environmental risk assessment of RNA interference (RNAi)-based crop protection. She has been a member of the Genetically Modified Organisms Panel of the European Food Safety Authority since 2018, and in 2024 received the Estonian National Science Award in Agricultural Sciences. Alongside her research, she is active in science communication on sustainable and organic food production and the impacts of climate change on agriculture.

Education Veromann studied biology at the University of Tartu, graduating in 1986. She later completed her PhD in entomology at the Estonian University of Life Sciences in 2007 with a thesis titled Oilseed rape pests and their parasitoids in Estonia.

Career and research Veromann's academic career has been based at the Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences of the Estonian University of Life Sciences, where she holds a professorship in applied entomology in the Chair of Plant Health. Since the late 2010s, her group has worked on RNA interference (RNAi)-based control of oilseed rape pests. The group identified the coatomer subunit gene αCOP as an RNAi target in B. aeneus and reported that orally delivered double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) produced strong gene knockdown and high mortality under laboratory conditions. Subsequent studies have examined chronic dsRNA exposure, spray-induced gene silencing, the use of polymeric and clay-based nanocarriers to stabilise dsRNA in the insect gut, and risk assessments of non-target effects on pollinators and biocontrol insects. Veromann is the principal investigator of the Estonian Research Council project "Developing pest suppressive and pollination supportive agricultural landscapes" (PRG3201, 2026–2030) and leads the Estonian University of Life Sciences research group, focused on agricultural ecosystems, within the FutureScapes Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Land Use, a consortium led by the University of Tartu. She has served as principal investigator on 15 research projects and participated in more than 40, and has supervised five doctoral theses to completion, two of which received national awards. a public lecture on sustainable Estonian agriculture at a community event in Rõuge in September 2023, a 2024 interview on ERR's morning programme Terevisioon on organic agriculture and land use, an appearance on the Estonian science podcast Tervise Seisund, and a talk on organic and regenerative agriculture at a community festival in Obinitsa in May 2026. She has also been the subject of profile coverage in the Estonian press.

Awards and honours 2025: Silver Nature Conservation Badge (Eesti looduskaitsemärk), Estonian Ministry of Climate. 2024: Estonian National Science Award in Agricultural Sciences, for the research cycle Innovative RNAi approach in pest control and implementation of ecosystem services in sustainable agriculture. 2024: Lecturer of the Year, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences. 2024: Letter of Appreciation from the Estonian Minister of Education and Research, as supervisor of a doctoral thesis awarded first prize in the Estonian National Student Research Contest. 2018: Medal of Merit, Estonian University of Life Sciences.

Selected publications Willow, J., Sulg, S., Taning, C.N.T., Silva, A.I., Christiaens, O., Kaasik, R., Prentice, K., Smagghe, G., & Veromann, E. (2021). "Targeting a coatomer protein complex-I gene via RNA interference results in effective lethality in the pollen beetle Brassicogethes aeneus." Journal of Pest Science, 94(3), 703–712. Willow, J., Soonvald, L., Sulg, S., Kaasik, R., Silva, A.I., Taning, C.N.T., Christiaens, O., Smagghe, G., & Veromann, E. (2021). "RNAi efficacy is enhanced by chronic dsRNA feeding in pollen beetle." Communications Biology, 4, 444. Willow, J., Taning, C.N.T., Cook, S.M., Sulg, S., Silva, A.I., Smagghe, G., & Veromann, E. (2021). "RNAi targets in agricultural pest insects: advancements, knowledge gaps, and IPM." Frontiers in Agronomy, 3, 794312. Vilumets, S., Kaasik, R., Lof, M.E., Kovács, G., Bishop, J., & Veromann, E. (2023). "Landscape complexity effects on Brassicogethes aeneus abundance and larval parasitism rate: a two-year field study." Scientific Reports, 13, 22373. Sulg, S., Kovács, G., Willow, J., Kaasik, R., Smagghe, G., Lövei, G.L., & Veromann, E. (2024). "Spatiotemporal distancing of crops reduces pest pressure while maintaining conservation biocontrol in oilseed rape." Pest Management Science, 80(5), 2250–2259. Willow, J., Kallavus, T., Dos Santos, É.A., Vilumets, S., Taning, C.N.T., Asseman, G., Smagghe, G., & Veromann, E. (2025). "First insights towards RNAi-based management of the pollen beetle Brassicogethes viridescens, with risk assessment against model non-target pollinator and biocontrol insects." Journal of Pest Science, 98, 1689–1697. Knauer, A., Adhikari, S., Andersson, G.K.S...., Tamburini, G., Uzman, D., Veromann, E., Vialatte, A., et al. (2026). "Pesticides and habitat loss additively reduce wild bees in crop fields." Nature Ecology & Evolution, 10, 95–104. Kallavus, T., Soonvald, L., Callewaert, I., Silva, A.I., Ávila Dos Santos, E., Vilumets, S., et al. (2026). "Synthetic polymer nanocarrier enhances dsRNA stability but not RNAi efficacy in Brassicogethes aeneus." Pest Management Science.