Profile

When I was in school, I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to be a scientist or a vet – it turns out I like doing a bit of both! I trained as a vet and spent a few years working in clinical practice, then found myself going back to uni to study a master’s degree, while doing some vet work part time. I’m now loving doing a PhD, researching big global issues, while still getting to spend time here and there being a vet for people’s pets. My cat, Eric, was a rescue who came to me via work, and I now consider him my lab partner when I’m working from home.

I love living only a couple of hours away from the Lake District, and my partner and I are trying to climb all the peaks, though we’ve got quite a few to go still! I really enjoy the outdoors and wherever I go I’m always excited to see the local wildlife. When I’m not outside I like to try my hand at various kinds of arts and crafts, and enjoy tabletop games with my friends, like Dungeons & Dragons.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is when bacteria adapt so that our antibiotics don’t work on them – it’s a massive problem because we rely on antibiotics working for a lot of human and veterinary medicine. One of the key ways to tackle it is to measure where AMR is most common, and where antibiotics are being used the most (both in humans and on farms), but measuring these directly can be difficult and expensive.

My research is on estimating antibiotic use and AMR from relevant data that we do have, like farm animal populations and availability of clean water. Using this, I’m working on predicting hotspots of AMR in parts of the world where there may not be resources available to measure AMR directly. This way, I hope to help us pick up on problems and address them before they get more severe.