Bell Labs Names Elmouttie Technical & Training Manager Southern Hemisphere

Australian rodent ecologist David Elmouttie will serve as Bell's technical and training manager for pest control and agricultural industries in New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands.

MADISON, Wis. — Australian rodent ecologist David Elmouttie joined Bell Laboratories in January in the newly created position of Technical & Training Manager for the southern hemisphere.

Based in Brisbane, Australia, Elmouttie works with the pest control and agricultural industries in New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands.

He serves as a technical resource for Bell distributors and pest management professionals, providing hands-on technical assistance on rodent infestations, as well as developing training presentations and informational materials on native rodents and pest species for PMPs. As part of his responsibilities, he is also involved in product registration, including conducting in-field product studies in various markets.

Elmouttie is in the final stages of his Ph.D. in ecology from the School of Natural Resource Sciences at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane. He is specializing in vertebrate pest management and organism-resource interactions. His Ph.D. research, supervised by Dr. John Wilson, investigated the interaction between small mammals and seed resources within tropical rain forest fragments.

Elmouttie's experience and research with small mammals, particularly rodents, is extensive. As a research ecologist, he helped develop a rodent control strategy for East Timor's rice and maize crops which provided a cost-effective management plan and a training program for East Timorese locals. He also studied the foraging behavior of roof rats within Australia’s macadamia nut orchards for an Honours Thesis in 2000. Recently he was involved in a research project investigating Oribius weevils in Papua, New Guinea.

Besides research, Elmouttie worked for the university as an undergraduate tutor and demonstrator. He also wrote and presented specialized lectures on vertebrate pest management and other related topics.

"I’m looking forward to the prospect of working with such an innovative and specialized company," Elmouttie said. "Like Bell, I have specialized in rodent management and hence feel that I have found the perfect work environment to utilize the experiences and knowledge that I have gained over the past years. I am excited for the future with Bell, especially as the company is growing so rapidly in the Australia/New Zealand region."