William Kay

Dr. William Kay is a researcher specializing in microbial ecology and plant pathology, with a focus on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in urban greenspaces and their impact on human wellbeing. His career spans projects at the University of Exeter and University of Oxford, where he studied fungal and bacterial pathogens affecting crops such as wheat and bananas. Current work explores microbial contributions to 'smellscapes' through GCMS profiling of volatiles.

Research Interests

• VOC-mediated biome health assessment
• Fungal pathogen dynamics
• Microbial interactions in agricultural systems
• Epiphytic-to-pathogenic microbial transitions
• Climate resilience in crop pathogens
• Urban environmental monitoring

Publication Trends

• 2025 work on microbial smellscape analysis and biocontrol mechanisms
• 2024 studies on Zymoseptoria tritici survival and phyllosphere ecology
• Historical focus on Fusarium oxysporum and cereal disease genomics