Miss Alex Morris
Research Associate
Overview
Research Interests:
- Parasite interactions
- Host parasite interactions
- Interactions between parasites and microbiota
- Wildlife diseases
- Social networks and disease dynamics
- Social behaviour and parasitism
Publication
2023
- Fenton, A., Withenshaw, S. M., Devevey, G., Morris, A., Erazo, D. and Pedersen, A. B. 2023. Experimental assessment of cross-species transmission in a natural multihost–multivector–multipathogen community. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 290(2011), article number: 20231900. (10.1098/rspb.2023.1900)
Erthyglau
- Fenton, A., Withenshaw, S. M., Devevey, G., Morris, A., Erazo, D. and Pedersen, A. B. 2023. Experimental assessment of cross-species transmission in a natural multihost–multivector–multipathogen community. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 290(2011), article number: 20231900. (10.1098/rspb.2023.1900)
Research
I am interested in host-parasite interactions, parasite interactions and host social behaviour and parasitism.
I am currently investigating parasite interactions in desert big horn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) located in the Mojave desert, California. Using telemetry to track individual animals within a population of sheep, I can investigate how an animals’ social group can affect the stability of their within host parasite interactions.
I work as part of a large research project with collaborators both in the UK (University of Edinburgh and University of Warwick) and USA (Oregon State University, California Department of Fish and Wildlife).
Biography
I studied Zoology at Liverpool John Moores University (2012-2015). I then studied for a Masters by Research in Infectious Diseases at University of Edinburgh (2016-2017), working on Trypanosoma dynamics in a wild rodent system. After this, I started my PhD at University of Edinburgh in collaboration with Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) and Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland (BioSS), studying the impact of parasitism on the activity and social behaviour of domestic sheep. I then started my post-doc October 2021, studying parasite interactions in desert big horn sheep, at Cardiff University.