Rate My Professor John Haywood

John Haywood is a Senior Lecturer in Statistics within the School of Mathematics and Statistics at Victoria University of Wellington, a position he has held since February 2001. He earned his PhD and BSc (Hons) from Victoria University of Wellington. His academic career focuses on applied statistics, with research specializations in time series analysis, distribution-free goodness-of-fit testing, and statistical modelling for ecological applications. Haywood's contributions extend to interdisciplinary collaborations, particularly in modelling population dynamics of invasive species, viral communities in parasites and hosts, and immune gene silencing via RNA interference for pest management. Notable publications include 'On distribution-free goodness-of-fit testing of exponentiality' co-authored with Estate Khmaladze (2007), 'Modelling Seasonality and Structural Breaks: Visitors to NZ and 9/11' with J. Randal (2009), the book 'Models for Dependent Time Series' (2015), 'The long-term population dynamics of common wasps in their native and invaded range' (2017), 'Viral communities in the parasite Varroa destructor and in colonies of their honey bee host (Apis mellifera) in New Zealand' (2022), and 'RNA interference as a next-generation control method for suppressing Varroa destructor reproduction in honey bee (Apis mellifera) hives' (2024). These works demonstrate his influence in advancing statistical methods for tourism forecasting, geophysical time series, biogeographical patterns, and invasive species ecology.

Haywood has received the Victoria University of Wellington Early Career Research Excellence award, recognizing his impactful research. He plays a prominent role in the statistical community as the elected President of the New Zealand Statistical Association (NZSA), contributing to its activities over many years. As a convener of the Wellington Statistics Group, he organizes seminars and supports professional development. In teaching, he delivers courses in statistics and data science within the Mathematics faculty, fostering skills in statistical analysis, R programming, and applied modelling. His editorial and committee roles further enhance the field through conference organization, such as the NZSA 2024 Conference hosted at Victoria University of Wellington. Haywood's 70+ publications have garnered over 540 citations, underscoring his academic impact.