NATURAL
RESOURCES
INSTITUTE

Knowledge for a sustainable world

Professor John Colvin

BA, MSc, PhD
Biography

After earning a first degree in zoology at Oxford University, Professor John Colvin pursued his interest in applied entomology by completing an MSc with distinction in pest and disease management at London University, Imperial College at Silwood Park. He then spent three years studying for a PhD on cotton-bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, moth migration, at the University College of North Wales. In the course of his PhD, John developed an interest in mathematical modelling and computer programming and took part of a degree in these subjects. It was also during this period that John began to work at the Tropical Development and Research Institute, one of the predecessor units of the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) at the University of Greenwich.

After a short post-doctoral fellowship at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, working on mosquito and tsetse fly behaviour, Professor Colvin joined the Overseas Development Natural Resources Institute, the immediate predecessor of NRI. Since then, he has worked on many different economically important insect pests and plant viruses and has travelled to over 30 countries to carry out research and field work.

Over the previous 21 years, Professor Colvin has consistently won substantial research projects competitively, bringing together a wide range of scientific experts and managing them effectively in multidisciplinary teams. He is recognised internationally as a leading researcher in a remarkable range of subjects and has authored and co-authored more than 130 scientific publications, book chapters, knowledge-transfer and media articles. His research is frequently novel and he applied recently for a patent, jointly with Susan Seal and David Bailey, on information arising from whitefly transcriptomics research.

Professor Colvin believes strongly in the need to train and mentor the next generation of scientists and has supervised successfully 15 and 13 MSc and PhD students respectively. He has had a wide range of responsibilities at the NRI. He assists in the management of the Locust & Grasshopper Problem Area, is a member of the NRI Research Committee, head of the Insect and Disease Management Group and is head of the Agricultural Biosecurity Research Group. He has had responsibilities within the university as a member of the Professor and Reader Appointments Committee. In the wider world of academia, he acts as an external PhD examiner for both UK and overseas universities and is asked frequently to review the quality of candidates for the promotion panels of other universities and institutes. He is an active member of International Whitefly Network, participating actively in organising two recent international whitefly meetings in China. Professor Colvin also represents NRI on the National Horticultural Forum R&D providers group and is a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society.

Professor Colvin has spent much of his research career working on insects, plants and viruses. In his early career, he was particularly struck by the ingenuity inherent in the pest management technologies created to address the agricultural problems that arise when human interests conflict with those of insect species and the plant viruses they transmit. Due to the enormity of the human suffering caused by some of these problems, especially in the developing world, he has been particularly interested in agricultural research that generates practical technologies, or knowledge-based solutions, that can be adopted easily by resource-poor farmers.

Professor Colvin has a wide variety of research interests, but the two most important are the whitefly species complex, Bemisia tabaci, and the main group of plant-viruses that they transmit called begomoviruses. Whitefly are responsible for spreading a larger number of plant-virus pandemics and research is helping find novel methods for controlling then and preventing future pandemics.

  • Vyskočilová S, Seal S & Colvin J (2019) Relative polyphagy of "Mediterranean" cryptic Bemisia tabaci whitefly species and global-pest status implications. Journal of Pest Science, in press.
  • Fennell J, Veys C, Dingle J, Nwezeobi J, Van Brunschot S, Colvin J & Grieve B. (2018) A method for real-time classification of insect vectors of mosaic and brown streak disease in cassava plants for future implementation within a low-cost, handheld, in-field multispectral imaging sensor. Plant Methods, 14, 82-82.
  • Kalyebi A, Macfadyen S, Parry H, Tay WT, De Barro P & Colvin J (2018) African cassava whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, cassava colonization preferences and control implications. PLoS ONE 13(10): e0204862. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0204862
  • MacFadyen S, Paull C, Boykin LM, De Barro P, Maruthi MN, Otim M, Kalyebi A, Vassão DG, Sseruwagi P, Tay WT, Delatte H, Seguni Z, Colvin J & Omongo CA (2018) Bulletin of Entomological Research, 108, Issue 5, 565-582.
  • Malka O, Feldmesser E, Santos-Garcia D, Sharon E, Krause Sakate R, Delatte H, Van Brunschot S, Patel MV, Mugerwa H, Seal S, Colvin J & Morin S. (2018) Species-complex evolution and host-plant associations in Bemisia tabaci: a plant-defense, detoxification perspective revealed by RNAseq analyses. Molecular Ecology, 27, Issue 21, 4241-4256.
  • Mugerwa H, Seal S, Wang H-L, Patel MV, Kabaalu R, Omongo CA, Alicai T, Tairo F, Ndunguru J,  Sseruwagi P & Colvin J (2018) African ancestry of New World, Bemisia tabaci-whitefly species. (Nature) Scientific Reports, 8, Article number: 2734. 
  • Omongo C, Namuddu A, Okao-Okuja G, Alicai T, Van Brunschot S & Colvin J (2018) Occurrence of Bondar’s Nesting Whitefly, Paraleyrodes bondari (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) on cassava in Uganda. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia, Volume 62, Issue 4, 257-259.
  • Vyskočilová S, Tay WT, Van Brunschot S, Seal S & Colvin J (2018) An integrative approach to discovering cryptic species within the Bemisia tabaci whitefly species complex. (Nature) Scientific Reports, 8, Article number: 10886.
  • Mollel, H.G., Ndunguru, J., Sseruwagi, P., Alicai, T., Colvin, J., Navas-Castillo, J. & Fiallo-Olive, E. (2017) A novel East African monopartite begomovirus-betasatellite complex that infects Vernonia amygdalina. Arch Virol, 162:1079–1082.
  • Mollel, H.G., Sseruwagi, P., Ndunguru, J., Alicai, T., Colvin, J., Navas-Castillo, J. & Fiallo-Olive, E. (2017) Desmodium mottle virus, the first legumovirus (genus Begomovirus) from East Africa. Arch Virol, 162:1799–1803.
  • Wang, H.L., Xiao, N., Yang, J., Wang, X.W., Colvin, J. & Liu, S.S. (2016).  The complete mitochondrial genome of Bemisia afer (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae).  Mitochondrial DNA, 27, 98-99.
  • Collins, C., Patel, M.V., Colvin, J., Bailey, d. & Seal, S. (2014)  Identification and evaluation of suitable reference genes for gene expression studies in the whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Asia I) by reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR.  J. Insect Science, 14, 1-25.
  • Jing, X, Wong, A.C-N., Chaston, J.M., Colvin, J., McKenzie, C.L. & Douglas, A.E. (2014) The bacterial communities in plant phloem-sap-feeding insects. Special Issue of Molecular Ecology, Nature’s Microbiome, 23,1433–1444. Doi:1111/mec.12637
  • Luan, J-B, Wang, X.-W., Colvin, J. & Liu, S.-S (2014) Plant-mediated whitefly-begomovirus interactions: research progress and future prospects.  Bulletin of Entomological Research. 104, 267-276. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S000748531400011X
  • Colvin, John, Nagaraju, N., Moreno Leguizamon, Carlos, Govindappa, R.M., Manjunatha Reddy, T.B., Padmaja, S.A., Joshi, Neena, Hanson, Peter M., Seal, Susan E. and Muniyappa, V. (2012) Socio-economic and scientific impact created by whitefly-transmitted, plant- virus disease resistant tomato varieties in Southern India. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 11 (2). pp. 337-345. ISSN 2095-3119
  • Chowda-Reddy, R.V., Kirankumar, M., Seal, Susan E., Muniyappa, V., Valand, Girish B., Govindappa, M.R. and Colvin, John (2012) Bemisia tabaci phylogenetic groups in India and the relative transmission efficacy of Tomato leaf curl Bangalore virus by an indigenous and an exotic population. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 11 (2). pp. 235-248. ISSN 2095-3119 (doi:10.1016/S2095-3119(12)60008-2)
  • Liu, S.S., Colvin, J. & De Barro, P. (2011) Species Concepts as Applied to the Whitefly Bemisia tabaci Systematics: How Many Species Are There? Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 11(2): 176-186.
  • Omongo, Christopher A., Kawuki, Robert, Bellotti, Antony C., Alicai, Titus, Baguma, Yona, Maruthi, M.N., Bua, Anton and Colvin, John (2012) African cassava whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, resistance in African and South American cassava genotypes. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 11 (2). pp. 327-336. ISSN 2095-3119 (doi:10.1016/S2095-3119(12)60017-3)
  • Seal, Susan, Patel, Mitulkumar V., Collins, Carl, Colvin, John and Bailey, David (2012) Next generation transcriptome sequencing and quantitative real-time PCR technologies for characterisation of the Bemisia tabaci Asia 1 mtCOI phylogenetic clade. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 11 (2). pp. 281-292. ISSN 2095-3119 (doi:10.1016/S2095-3119(12)60012-4)
  • Springate, Simon and Colvin, John (2012) Pyrethroid insecticide resistance in British populations of the cabbage whitefly, Aleyrodes proletella. Pest Management Science, 68 (2). pp. 260-267. ISSN 1526-498X (Print), 1526-4998 (Online) (doi:10.1002/ps.2255)
  • Fellow, Royal Entomological Society
  • Member, National Horticultural Forum: R&D providers group
  • Active member of the International Whitefly Studies Network (previously called the European Whitefly Studies Network)
  • Long-term research and development work on whitefly contributed to the University of Greenwich winning The Royal Anniversary Trust awards for the Queen’s Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education on 25th February 2016. 
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