Rachael is a PhD student funded by QUADRAT DTP. She is investigating environmentally transmitted pathogens in wild red and roe deer, and determining how land use and bioclimate may affect transmission. The project is supervised by Mark Moseley and Sandra Telfer (University of Aberdeen), Kathryn Allan (University of Glasgow) and Eric Morgan (Queen's University Belfast).

This research will be important for understanding the role of wild deer as potential reservoirs for important diseases of livestock and humans that can have negative socioeconomic impacts. Rachael's research interests focus on disease transmission at the wildlife-livestock-human interface and how understanding the role of wildlife in these systems can improve their conservation and management. Click here to read more about Rachael's current and past research. 

Rachael is passionate about wildlife conservation and completed her masters at the University of Glasgow in MSc Conservation Management of African Ecosystems. During this degree, she investigated habitat selection and movement behaviours of Kordofan giraffe in Zakouma National Park, Chad. In her undergraduate degree in BSc (Hons) Veterinary Biosciences, also at the University of Glasgow, she created epidemiological models of multiple wildlife hosts to investigate their role in transmission of African Animal Trypanosomiasis to livestock. 

In her free time, Rachael enjoys rock climbing, hill walking, badminton and bird watching. In June 2022, she successfully climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. She is also interested in learning new languages and holds a Level 1 qualification in British Sign Language (BSL) and is currently self-teaching Swahili. 

Environmentally transmitted pathogens in wild red (Cervus elaphus) and roe (Capreolus capreolus) deer: the role of land use and bioclimate. 

Wildlife play an important role in the epidemiology of some of the most important pathogens of livestock and humans, either as reservoirs or vectors for infection. The presence of wildlife hosts can complicate disease management as traditional control measures, such as vaccination, are challenging in wildlife species. Despite the abundance and widespread distribution of both red and roe deer in the UK and increasing awareness that deer may play a role in the epidemiology of numerous zoonotic and livestock pathogens, less is known about how these roles may differ between deer species, whose ecology can differ significantly and to what extent land use and bioclimate conditions drive infection risk in wild deer. Rachael's project will involve a combination of field work, liaising with local gamekeepers and deer stalkers for sample collection, serological and molecular testing, GIS and a variety of statistical modelling. 

• MSc Conservation Management of African Ecosystems 2022 - University of Glasgow 

• BSc (Hons) Veterinary Biosciences 2021 - University of Glasgow