Martin Hill is the Distinguished Professor of Entomology at Rhodes University and the Director of the Centre for Biological Control.
His research is broadly biological control of both invasive alien plants and insect pests in an attempt to find alternative ways to control these pests that reduces the amount of pesticides used in the world. One of the main research areas has been the biological control of invasive aquatic plant species, including notorious weeds such as water hyacinth and salvinia. He has implemented the biological control of water weeds in a number of countries around the world, including: Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Papua New Guinea, Cameroon, China, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Ghana, Benin and Senegal.
Since the early 2000s he has also worked towards more sustainable control of insect pests, mostly in the citrus industry through the development of entomopathogenic fungi and viruses into mycoinsecticides as biological controls. Much of this research has become multidisciplinary and includes strong social and economic aspects.
