Colleen M Higgins
My research is focussed on plant viruses, particularly viruses of crops in NZ and the Pacific region, and NZ native plants. I use molecular techniques to understand virus population structure and evolution, establishment of infection, and how plant hosts respond. I am also interested in the impact of human activity on virus spread and emergence. I have expertise in plant molecular biology, molecular virology, and plant biotechnology, developing modified plants of several species with improved phenotypes, including virus resistance. I have led large research teams in biotech industry developing and analysing large transcriptome and genome databases, resulting in a significant intellectual property portfolio. I have supervised a number of students studying molecular characterisation of viral plant pathogens; impacts of human migration on virus evolution; plant transcript responses to environmental stimuli; plant tissue culture; plant genetic modification, with many of these projects having used large sequence datasets and bioinformatics approaches.
Abstracts this author is presenting: