The science behind COVID-19 testing: A resource for Higher Biology
By engaging with school students, scientists have an opportunity to enhance learning, share their passion for their subject, demonstrate the relevance of subject areas and highlight a diversity of career opportunities.
Nematodirus battus: Is it likely to spiral out of control?
Farming practices are evolving in response to intensification, diversification and climate change. As farm management has changed, pathogens of livestock have also adapted to optimise their reproduction and transmission opportunities. Our work, supported by Animal and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB), has focused on the control and biology of the economically important roundworm Nematodirus battus; a gut roundworm which annually threatens the health and welfare of young lambs across the UK. Our research has explored how Nematodirus behaves on commercial sheep farms.
Judith Evans
My background is in biomedical science in diagnostic and reference laboratories and my major areas of work are currently bacteria with zoonotic potential and the prevalence of bacteria with mechanisms to resist antibiotics.
I continue to develop my interest in E. coli, working on projects relating to prevalence and persistence of this organism in Scottish farm animals.
I manage our lab here and am able to provide results directly to the rest of the Epidemiology Team for further analysis.
Judith Evans
~~Future Farming Systems
Epidemiology Research Unit
An Lòchran
Inverness Campus
Inverness
IV2 5NA
Dr Nuno Silva
In 2016, Nuno Silva joined the Moredun Research Institute to establish a research project focused on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in sheep. Since then, his work has expanded to include the transmission dynamics of mastitis pathogens and the impact and spread of AMR across wildlife, the environment, and farm animals, including AMR from a food safety perspective, aligning with a One Health approach.
Current Research Interests:
Nuno Silva
Dr Lesley Smith
Lesley Smith
Animal & Veterinary Sciences,
SRUC, Roslin Institute Building,
Easter Bush,
Midlothian EH25 9RG
Professor Rick D'Eath
My research uses animal behaviour as a way to measure animal welfare, or to understand and solve animal welfare problems which involve behaviour.
Rick D'Eath
Animal & Veterinary Sciences,
SRUC, Roslin Institute Building,
Easter Bush, Midlothian
EH25 9RG
Dr Roger Humphry
My interest and expertise lies in quantitative agricultural and environmental science. The current areas of my work are:
- BVD, its eradication and sample size calculation for screening for BVD
- Antimicrobial resistance and its measurement
- The consequence of empirically derived contact networks in cattle on the spread of disease
Roger Humphry
Future Farming Systems
Epidemiology Research Unit
Plot 10, An Lòchran
Inverness Campus
Inverness
IV2 5NA
Dr Tracey Pritchard
Tracey's research interests include:
- Improving health of livestock (e.g. mastitis, lameness, Johne’s in cattle, scrapie in sheep)
- Role of animal health, fitness and survival on greenhouse gas emission
- Improving sustainability of farm enterprises
- The development of sustainable breeding goals and improvements to national genetic evaluations
- Merging and mining of national data to create and understand the biology of novel phenotypes so that the livestock industry can measure, monitor and manage their performance.
Tracey Pritchard
Animal & Veterinary Sciences,
SRUC, Roslin Institute Building,
Easter Bush, Midlothian
EH25 9RG