Philip C Stevenson

Biography

Phil Stevenson is Professor of Plant Chemistry at the Natural Resources Institute within the University of Greenwich where he is Head of the Chemical Ecology research group. He also holds a dual position as a NERC Merit researcher and Senior Research Leader of Chemical Ecology at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Phil’s research has focussed on the biological and ecological role of plant chemicals and understanding how these compounds can be used to support sustainable agriculture. This work includes research on pollen and nectar chemistry to determine their role in pollinator behaviour and health and behavioural ecology, natural pest resistance in crops to identify breeding traits and the optimisation of pesticidal plants (botanical insecticides) as benign and affordable alternatives to synthetic insecticides. Phil has led major research and development projects won through competitive bids to programmes including: DFID, BBSRC, DEFRA, McKnight Foundation, European Union (ACP Science and Technology programmes), USDA and NSF (USA). Other smaller grants have been won competitively through the Science Foundation of Ireland, Higher Education Funding Council for England and the Millennium Science Foundation (Uganda) and DFID's competitive research facility. The projects have funded research activities, training and capacity building activities and agricultural development. This research has been published in 150 international journal articles, books and books chapters including recent papers in Science, Current Biology, Journal of Ecology, Biology Letters, Scientific Reports and Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. His international scientific role is represented through positions on the editorial boards of journals including Subject Editor at the Bulletin of Entomological Research, Regional Editor of Biopesticides International and the Editorial board of Crop Protection. He is a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society and Member of the British Ecological Society.

Research Interest

My research interests lie in the opportunities to exploit plant chemicals to improve and enhance agriculture and agroecosystems in environmentally benign ways. These include understanding the chemical basis of resistance mechanisms in crops to insects and diseases and exploiting natural insecticidal compounds in plants that can replace synthetic and ecological damaging pesticides for small holder farmers in developing countries – e.g. botanical insecticides and pesticidal plants.