I am an Environmental Virologist, working within the School of Environmental and Natural Sciences at Bangor University. I am the lead Virologist on the BlueAdapt project, which aims to investigate and mitigate the risk of waterborne pathogens in a changing climate. I gained my PhD 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.

Over my career I have developed molecular methods for viral detection in host species and environmental samples. At the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, I joined Bangor University as a Postdoctoral researcher in the public and environmental health surveillance lab. During this time, I focused my research on method development for the concentration and recovery of SARS-CoV-2 and other human-derived viruses from wastewater samples. I developed molecular techniques for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and other human-derived viruses in wastewater, using both NGS and PCR platforms.

My current research focuses on the effects of a changing climate on sewage-borne human viruses found in coastal and estuarine environments. The research is of importance as it will provide much needed information about the risks of sewage-borne viruses to human health. I am also interested in emerging molecular technologies and how they can be applied to analyse host species, and environmental samples, to assess viral prevalence, abundance, and diversity. Insights from this type of analysis are valuable for improving pandemic preparedness moving forward. 

I am willing to supervise a PhD

2024

• E-pub ahead of printComparative assessment of Nanotrap and polyethylene glycol-based virus concentration in wastewater samples
  Farkas, K., Kevill, J. L., Williams, R. C., Pântea, I., Ridding, N., Lambert-Slosarska, K., Woodhall, N., Grimsley, J. M. S., Wade, M. J., Singer, A. C., Weightman, A. J., Cross, G. & Jones, D. L., 5 Mar 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: FEMS microbes. 5, xtae007.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedMicrocosm experiment investigating climate-induced thermal effects on human virus viability in seawater: qPCR vs capsid integrity for enhanced risk management
  Kevill, J., Li, X., Garcia-Delgado, A., Herridge, K., Farkas, K., Gaze, W. H., Robins, P., Malham, S. & Jones, D. L., 1 Nov 2024, In: Marine Pollution Bulletin. 208, 117006.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• E-pub ahead of printNear-source passive sampling for monitoring viral outbreaks within a university residential setting
  Farkas, K., Kevill, J. L., Adwan, L., Garcia-Delgado, A., Dzay, R., Grimsley, J. M. S., Lambert-Slosarska, K., Wade, M. J., Williams, R. C., Martin, J., Drakesmith, M., Song, J., McClure, V. & Jones, D. L., 8 Feb 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Epidemiology and Infection. 152, p. e31
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedSimultaneous detection and characterization of common respiratory pathogens in wastewater through genomic sequencing
  Williams, R. C., Farkas, K., Garcia-Delgado, A., Adwan, L., Kevill, J. L., Cross, G., Weightman, A. J. & Jones, D. L., 1 Jun 2024, In: Water research. 256, 121612.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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
• PublishedUse of Capsid Integrity-qPCR for Detecting Viral Capsid Integrity in Wastewater
  Kevill, J. L., Farkas, K., Ridding, N., Woodhall, N., Malham, S. K. & Jones, D. L., 26 Dec 2023, In: Viruses. 16, 1
  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, U. & 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