Research Interests
I am a Postdoctoral Researcher in Environmental Virology, at the School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University. I gained my Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at the University of Salford, Manchester in 2018. My research focused on the role of resistance to Deformed wing virus (DWV) in European honey bees. During my Ph.D., I designed molecular methods for viral detection and applied these to establish a connection between DWV and honey bee winter survivorship in the UK and USA. After my Ph.D., I completed a two-year postdoctoral research position at the University of Minnesota, USA. Here, I developed methods for the detection of viruses infecting honey bees and pigs, using state-of-the-art technologies such as Next Generation Sequencing.
At the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, I joined Bangor University as a Postdoctoral researcher in the SARS-CoV-2 surveillance lab. During this time, I have focused my research on method development for the concentration and recovery of SARS-CoV-2 and other human-derived viruses from wastewater samples. In addition, I have developed molecular techniques for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and other human-derived viruses in wastewater, using NGS and various PCR platforms (qPCR and digital droplet PCR).
My current research focuses on the effects of a changing climate on human-derived viruses found in coastal and estuarine environments. I am also interested in new molecular technologies and how these can be applied to environmental samples to assess viral prevelence, abundance and diversity.
Publications
2023
- PublishedPoor air passenger knowledge of COVID-19 symptoms and behaviour undermines strategies aimed at preventing the import of SARS-CoV-2 into the UK
Jones, D. L., Rhymes, J., Green, E., Rimmer, C., Kevill, J., Malham, S., Weightman, A. & Farkas, K., 1 Mar 2023, In: Scientific Reports. 13, 1, 3494.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedRapid Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 Variant-Associated Mutations in Wastewater Using Real-Time RT-PCR
Farkas, K., Pellett, C., Williams, R., Alex-Sanders, N., Bassano, I., Brown, M. R., Denise, H., Grimsley, J. M. S., Kevill, J. L., Khalifa, M. S., Pântea, I., Story, R., Wade, M. J., Woodhall, N. & Jones, D. L., 14 Feb 2023, In: Microbiology Spectrum. 11, 1, e0317722.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedSuitability of aircraft wastewater for pathogen detection and public health surveillance
Jones, D. L., Rhymes, J., Wade, M. J., Kevill, J., Malham, S., Grimsley, J. M. S., Rimmer, C., Weightman, A. & Farkas, K., 15 Jan 2023, In: Science of the Total Environment. 856, Pt 2, p. 159162 159162.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2022
- PublishedA comparison of precipitation and filtration-based SARS-CoV-2 recovery methods and the influence of temperature, turbidity, and surfactant load in urban wastewater
Kevill, J. L., Pellett, C., Farkas, K., Brown, M. R., Bassano, I., Denise, H., McDonald, J. E., Malham, S. K., Porter, J., Warren, J., Evens, N. P., Paterson, S., Singer, A. C. & Jones, D. L., 20 Feb 2022, In: Science of the Total Environment. 808, 151916.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedAssessment of two types of passive sampler for the efficient recovery of SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses from wastewater
Kevill, J. L., Lambert-Slosarska, K., Pellett, C., Woodhall, N., Richardson-O'Neill, I., Pantea, I., Alex-Sanders, N., Farkas, K. & Jones, D. L., 10 Sept 2022, In: Science of the Total Environment. 838, 4, 156580.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedCity-wide wastewater genomic surveillance through the successive emergence of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha and Delta variants
Brunner, F. S., Brown, M. R., Bassano, I., Denise, H., Khalifa, M. S., Wade, M. J., van Aerle, R., Kevill, J. L., Jones, D. L., Farkas, K., Jeffries, A. R., Cairns, E., Wierzbicki, C. & Paterson, S., 1 Nov 2022, In: Water research. 226, 119306.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedComparative Assessment of Filtration- and Precipitation-Based Methods for the Concentration of SARS-CoV-2 and Other Viruses from Wastewater
Farkas, K., Pellett, C., Alex-Sanders, N., Bridgman, M. T. P., Corbishley, A., Grimsley, J. M. S., Kasprzyk-Hordern, B., Kevill, J. L., Pantea, I., Richardson-O'Neill, I. S., Lambert-Slosarska, K., Woodhall, N. & Jones, D. L., 31 Aug 2022, In: Microbiology Spectrum. 10, 4, 16 p., spectrum.01102-22.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedCritical Evaluation of Different Passive Sampler Materials and Approaches for the Recovery of SARS-CoV-2, Faecal-Indicator Viruses and Bacteria from Wastewater
Jones, D. L., Grimsley, J. M. S., Kevill, J. L., Williams, R., Pellett, C., Lambert-Slosarska, K., Singer, A. C., Williams, G. B., Bargiela, R., Brown, R. W., Agency, UK. & Farkas, K., 6 Nov 2022, In: Water. 14, 21, 3568.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedPredicting the dispersal of SARS-CoV-2 RNA from the wastewater treatment plant to the coast
Robins, P., Dickson, N., Kevill, J., Malham, S., Singer, A., Quilliam, R. & Jones, D. L., Sept 2022, In: Heliyon. 8, 9, E10547.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2021
- PublishedTen Years of Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) in Hawaiian Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), the Dominant DWV-A Variant Is Potentially Being Replaced by Variants with a DWV-B Coding Sequence
Grindrod, I., Kevill, J. L., Villalobos, E. M., Schroeder, D. C. & Martin, S. J., 24 May 2021, In: Viruses. 13, 6, 969.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review