Professor Ben Raymond (he/him)

About me:

I am an experimental evolutionary ecologist who works with insects, plants, bacterial pathogens and symbionts. Much of my research focuses on virulence and resistance, particularly the evolution of virulence in parasites and symbionts, the evolution of resistance to the biological control agent Bacillus thruringiensis and, increasingly, the evolution of resistance to antibiotics. I have also worked on the basic ecology of biocontrol agents and beneficial bacteria, such as B. thuringiensis, rhizobacteria and insect baculoviruses. As well as testing and advancing fundamental ideas, I am particularly interested in applying theory to real world problems such as improving the efficacy and sustainability of biocontrol tools or managing the evolution of resistance. My work ranges from the laboratory to the field and includes a number of in vivo and in vitro experimental evolution systems that have been developed by my group.  I was promoted to Head of Department in the CEC in August 2025.

Grants/Funding:

• NERC Standard grant (2022-). Managing the competition: how do burying beetles and microbes sustainably coexist in competition over shared resources? NE/V012053/1 (coI with Nick Royle)
• British Academy (2020-2022) Inclusive and international risk assessment: Building a framework for gene drive organisms through collaboration, £200,000. (co-I with Sarah Hartley)
• Bayer CropScience LP. Artificial selection for improvement of spore-forming entomopathogens. £159,150. PI Dec 2019.
• Andermatt UK. Field and laboratory testing of biopesticides based on Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki. £7,000 June 2019.

• Horizon 2020 International Training Award “INSECT DOCTORS” proposal 859850, call H2020-MSCA-ITN-2019, co-investigator, €4.2 million €606,345 for Exeter
• British Academy Knowledge Frontiers 2018, Co-developing risk assessment across disciplines and borders: gene drive mosquito field trials in Uganda. coI with Sarah Hartley, £49,585. KF2/100179.
• BB/S002928/1 BBSRC industrial partnership award– ‘Group selection as a novel tool to screen and improve biological pesticides’ £942,085 (PI, with Neil Crickmore, Alistair Darby and DowDuPont) (2019-2021).
• AHDB Studentship award “Selection and improvement of insect pathogenic fungi for the control of multi-resistant aphids” £71,400, (Oct 2018-June 2022)
• EU RDF collaborative research award “Microclimate and biocontrol interventions for Botrytis cinerea and fruit set problems in Cornish viticulture” £127,170 (March 2018).
• BBSRC Agrifood Catalyst £20,326 “Prototype development of novel bio-pesticide clones derived by experimental evolution” (Nov 2017)
• Eden Collaboration Fund “Exploring plant microbial mutualisms in the pollination ecology of the Titan Arum, Amorphophallus titanum” £5,093 (March 2017)
• MRC Innovation award. (PI) “Rapid assessment of phage for combating antimicrobial resistance in Enterobacter cloacae using a novel insect model.” £177,000 (May 2016).
• Leverhulme Trust. (PI) “Directing the evolution of bacterial virulence to overcome resistance to biological pesticides”. £233,233. RPG-2014-252 (Jan 2015).
• BBSRC LINK grant Co-I .BB/L00819X/1 “Agricultural pest insect control: combining genetics, resistance management and dynamics”. £340,000 (March 2014)
• Charles Sykes Trust £90720, co-I. “Antibiotic resistance in biofilms”(Sept 2011)
• BBSRC Genome Analysis Centre, Capacity, Capability and Challenge Award, (PI) “ Identification of social and individually beneficial virulence genes in Bacillus thuringiensis via insertion site sequencing” £9996 (July 2011)
• NERC Advanced Fellowship (NE/E012671/1) “Intra- and inter-specific competition and the evolution of cooperation in Bacillus thuringiensis”. £465,915 (Oct 2007)
• BBSRC “Field and laboratory studies of Bacillus thuringiensis populations: the dynamics of diversity and its consequences for the evolution of resistance.” £303,269 (2005)
• BBSRC “The evolution of resistance to Bt toxins: testing ecological and evolutionary hypotheses in experimental microcosms.” £246,336 (2001)

Qualifications:

1998 DPhil (University of York)
1994 MSc (University College of North Wales)
1992 BA (St John’s College, Oxford)

Career:

2025 Head of Department Centre of Ecology and Conservation

2021 Professor of Ecology and Evolution, University of Exeter

2019-2025 Member of Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment- reporting to DEFRA

2016-2021 Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolution, University of Exeter
2013-2106 Senior Lecturer in Evolutionary Ecology, Imperial College, Silwood Park.
2009-2013 NERC Research Fellow, Royal Holloway University of London.
2007-2009 NERC Research Fellow, University of Oxford
2005-2007 Insect pathogen evolutionary ecology, University of Oxford
2001-2004 Evolution of resistance to insect pathogens, Imperial College
1998-2001 Insect baculovirus ecology, CEH Oxford

Current research group:

Postdoctoral researchers

Sarah Duxbury

Postgraduate researchers
Hannah-Isadora Huditz

Jie Gao

Gemma McDonald

Lab Alumni
Andrew Matthews - currently lab manager ESI University of Exeter
Elitsa Georgieva Penkova (MRes) - currently PhD student in ESI with Anne Leonard
Elli Amanatidou - moved to employment with Food Safety Authority
Frances Medaney - ; moved to industry and post doctoral posts and employment with BBSRC
Hugh White - : currently post doctoral researcher at Universityy of Oxford

James Manktelow - moved to career in patent law
Jessica Forsyth  (MRes) moved to research technician post University of Manchester
Lauri Mikonranta - moved to post-doctoral position at the University of York with Ville Friman
Liqin Zhou - working in Biotech industry in China
Peter Morwool - : currently working in industry in SW England in microbiological quality control
Tatiana Dimitriu  - moved to postdoctoral positions in ESI, currently Royal Society research fellow in St Andrews
Zoltan Erdos - currently postdoctoral researcher in ESI with Dan Padfield
Loretta Mugo - postdoctoral researcher at the University of Georgia 

Alessandro Roman - moved to industry posiition in software engineering for plant breeding

Michael Jardine - moved to analyst postion in Civil Service