![Sarah Perkins](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/7335?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Dr Sarah Perkins
(she/her)
- Media commentator
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Teams and roles for Sarah Perkins
Reader
School of Biosciences
Overview
My current research focuses on:
- Social networks and infectious disease dynamics
- Biodiversity monitoring
- Wildlife diseases
- Citizen science
For more details of my citizen science research see https://www.theroadlab.co.uk/
Publication
2026
- Robison-Smith, C. et al. 2026. Characterising marine plastic debris accumulations on Tobago coastal environments. Journal of Hazardous Materials: Plastics 100077. (10.1016/j.hazmp.2026.100077)
- Mozhdehi, M. H. et al., 2026. Habitat inference from biodiversity field notes. Presented at: KDD '26: The 32nd ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining Jeju Island, Republic of Korea 9-13 August 2026. Published in: Kim, W. , Lee, J. and Shim, K. eds. KDD '26: Proceedings of the 32nd ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining. [Habitat Inference from Biodiversity Field Notes]. ACM. , pp.11038-11049. (10.1145/3770855.3818941)
- Moore, L. J. et al., 2026. Beyond the individual: multisite population‐level consequences of road mortality on a declining mammal. Animal Conservation (10.1111/acv.70082)
- Asiri, A. , Perkins, S. E. and Müller, C. T. 2026. Wake up and smell the infected bees: Volatile cues of Vairimorpha infection in honey bees. Ecology and Evolution 16 (6) e73768. (10.1002/ece3.73768)
- Olsen, A. S. et al. 2026. Computer vision for infectious disease surveillance; Saprolegnia spp. in salmonids. Ecological Informatics 93 103567. (10.1016/j.ecoinf.2025.103567)
- Raymond, S. , Chadwick, E. A. and Perkins, S. E. 2026. Quantifying roadless areas and fragmentation in the context of wildlife-vehicle collision risk in Great Britain. Scientific Reports 16 3890. (10.1038/s41598-026-36410-8)
- Raymond, S. et al. 2026. Identifying hotspots and drivers of wildlife-vehicle collision risk using citizen science data: a case study focused on the European badger Meles meles. Biological Conservation 313 111601. (10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111601)
2025
- Cook, N. D. et al. 2025. First record of a piebald leucistic smallspotted catshark Scyliorhinus canicula in a special area of conservation, UK. Marine Biodiversity 55 112. (10.1007/s12526-025-01602-4)
- McDowell, D. et al. 2025. Microinvertebrate consumption rates of Fasciola hepatica miracidia are not affected by alternate food.. International Journal for Parasitology 55 (11), pp.595-601. (10.1016/j.ijpara.2025.05.004)
- Cook, N. D. et al. 2025. Vertebral elemental composition reveals ontogenetic changes in habitat use in a Northeast Atlantic mesopredator shark. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 319 109255. (10.1016/j.ecss.2025.109255)
- Reynolds, M. et al. 2025. Parasites alter interaction patterns in fish social networks. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 292 (2047) 20250793. (10.1098/rspb.2025.0793)
- Yu, H. et al., 2025. Unexpected landscape-scale contemporary gene flow and fine-scale genetic diversity in rural hedgehogs. Conservation Genetics 26 , pp.391-401. (10.1007/s10592-025-01676-4)
- Michels, E. et al., 2025. The release of non-native gamebirds is associated with amplified zoonotic disease risk. Ecology Letters 28 (4) e70115. (10.1111/ele.70115)
- Asiri, A. , Perkins, S. E. and Muller, C. 2025. The smell of infection: Disease surveillance in insects using volatile organic compounds. Agricultural and Forest Entomology 27 (1), pp.81-89. (10.1111/afe.12651)
2024
- Cook, N. et al. 2024. Temporal niche partitioning as a potential mechanism for coexistence in two sympatric mesopredator sharks. Frontiers in Marine Science 11 1443357. (10.3389/fmars.2024.1443357)
- Jones, C. B. , Stock, K. and Perkins, S. E. 2024. AI-based discovery of habitats from museum collections. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 39 (4), pp.323-327. (10.1016/j.tree.2024.01.006)
- Raymond, S. , Perkins, S. E. and Garrard, G. 2024. The Species at Risk Act (2002) and transboundary species listings along the US-Canada border. Humanities 13 (1) 38. (10.3390/h13010038)
- Cook, N. D. et al. 2024. Elasmobranch diversity around the southern Caribbean island of Tobago: Opportunities for conservation in a regional trade hub. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 104 e8. (10.1017/S0025315423000917)
2023
- Moore, L. J. et al., 2023. Demographic effects of road mortality on mammalian populations: a systematic review. Biological Reviews 98 (4), pp.1033-1050. (10.1111/brv.12942)
- Raymond, S. et al. 2023. The impact of the COVID-19 lockdowns on wildlife-vehicle collisions in the UK. Journal of Animal Ecology 92 (6), pp.1244-1255. (10.1111/1365-2656.13913)
- Dunkley, K. et al., 2023. The presence of territorial damselfish predicts choosy client species richness at cleaning stations. Behavioral Ecology 34 (2), pp.269-277. arac122. (10.1093/beheco/arac122)
2022
- Perkins, S. E. , Shilling, F. and Collinson, W. 2022. Anthropause opportunities: Experimental perturbation of road traffic and the potential effects on wildlife. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 10 833129. (10.3389/fevo.2022.833129)
2021
- Watson, S. E. et al. 2021. Diet-driven mercury contamination is associated with polar bear gut microbiota. Scientific Reports 11 23372. (10.1038/s41598-021-02657-6)
- Raymond, S. et al. 2021. Temporal patterns of wildlife roadkill in the UK. PLoS ONE 16 (10) e0258083. (10.1371/journal.pone.0258083)
- Whittey, K. E. et al. 2021. Microhabitats of sharknose goby (Elacatinus evelynae) cleaning stations and their links with cleaning behaviour. Coral Reefs 40 , pp.1069-1080. (10.1007/s00338-021-02105-x)
- Edwards, T. et al. 2021. Passive citizen science: The role of social media in wildlife observations. PLoS ONE 16 (8) e0255416. (10.1371/journal.pone.0255416)
- Kent, E. , Schwartz, A. L. W. and Perkins, S. E. 2021. Life in the fast lane: roadkill risk along an urban-rural gradient. Journal of Urban Ecology 7 (1) juzz039. (10.1093/jue/juaa039)
2020
- Watson, S. E. et al. 2020. Parasites of an Arctic scavenger; the wolverine (Gulo gulo). International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 13 , pp.178-185. (10.1016/j.ijppaw.2020.10.004)
- Dunkley, K. , Cable, J. and Perkins, S. E. 2020. Consistency in mutualism relies on local, rather than wider community biodiversity. Scientific Reports 10 21255. (10.1038/s41598-020-78318-x)
- Williams, S. et al. 2020. An evidence-based assessment of the past distribution of Golden and White-tailed Eagles across Wales. Conservation Science and Practice 2 (8) e240. (10.1111/csp2.240)
- Bíl, M. et al., 2020. Benefits and challenges of collaborating with volunteers: examples from national wildlife roadkill reporting systems in Europe. Journal for Nature Conservation 54 125798. (10.1016/j.jnc.2020.125798)
- Dunkley, K. et al. 2020. To clean or not to clean: cleaning mutualism breakdown in a tidal environment. Ecology and Evolution 10 (6), pp.3043-3054. (10.1002/ece3.6120)
- Wright, P. G. et al., 2020. Predicting hedgehog mortality risks on British roads using habitat suitability modelling. PeerJ 7 e8154. (10.7717/peerj.8154)
- Williams Schwartz, A. L. , Shilling, F. M. and Perkins, S. E. 2020. The value of monitoring wildlife roadkill. European Journal of Wildlife Research 66 18. (10.1007/s10344-019-1357-4)
2019
- Watson, S. E. et al. 2019. Global change-driven use of onshore habitat impacts polar bear faecal microbiota. ISME Journal 13 , pp.2916-2926. (10.1038/s41396-019-0480-2)
- Dunkley, K. et al. 2019. Cleaner personality and client identity have joint consequences on cleaning interaction dynamics. Behavioral Ecology 30 (3), pp.703-712. (10.1093/beheco/arz007)
- Dunkley, K. et al. 2019. Long-term cleaning patterns of the sharknose goby (Elacatinus evelynae). Coral Reefs 38 (2), pp.321-330. (10.1007/s00338-019-01778-9)
2018
- Jessica, S. , Perkins, S. and Cable, J. 2018. Transmission risk predicts avoidance of infected conspecifics in Trinidadian guppies. Journal of Animal Ecology 87 (6), pp.1525-1533. (10.1111/1365-2656.12885)
- Buck, J. C. and Perkins, S. 2018. Study scale determines whether wildlife loss protects against or promotes tick-borne disease. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 285 (1878) 20180218. (10.1098/rspb.2018.0218)
- Dunkley, K. , Cable, J. and Perkins, S. 2018. The selective cleaning behaviour of juvenile blue-headed wrasse (Thalassoma bifasciatum) in the Caribbean. Behavioural Processes 147 , pp.5-12. (10.1016/j.beproc.2017.12.005)
- Williams Schwartz, A. et al. 2018. Roadkill scavenging behaviour in an urban environment. Journal of Urban Ecology 4 (1) juy006. (10.1093/jue/juy006)
2017
- Pascoe, E. L. et al. 2017. Network analysis of gut microbiota literature: an overview of the research landscape in non-human animal studies. ISME Journal 11 (12), pp.2644-2651. (10.1038/ismej.2017.133)
- Perkins, S. E. et al. 2017. Parasite community dynamics in an invasive vole - From focal introduction to wave front. International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 6 (3), pp.412-419. (10.1016/j.ijppaw.2017.07.005)
- Madden, J. R. and Perkins, S. E. 2017. Why did the pheasant cross the road? Long-term road mortality patterns in relation to management changes. Royal Society Open Science 4 (10) 170617. (10.1098/rsos.170617)
- Smallbone, W. et al. 2017. East-West divide: temperature and land cover drive spatial variation of Toxoplasma gondii infection in Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra) from England and Wales. Parasitology 144 (11), pp.1433-1440. (10.1017/S0031182017000865)
- McCallum, H. et al., 2017. Breaking beta: deconstructing the parasite transmission function. Philosophical Transactions B: Biological Sciences 372 (1719) 20160084. (10.1098/rstb.2016.0084)
- Stephenson, J. F. et al., 2017. Host heterogeneity affects both parasite transmission to and fitness on subsequent hosts. Philosophical Transactions B: Biological Sciences 372 (1719) 20160093. (10.1098/rstb.2016.0093)
- Wilson, A. J. et al., 2017. What is a vector?. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B - Biological Sciences 372 (1719) 20160085. (10.1098/rstb.2016.0085)
- Guzzetta, G. et al., 2017. Population dynamics of wild rodents induce stochastic fadeouts of a zoonotic pathogen. Journal of Animal Ecology 86 (3), pp.451-459. (10.1111/1365-2656.12653)
2015
- Kreisinger, J. et al., 2015. Interactions between multiple helminths and the gut microbiota in wild rodents. Philosophical Transactions B: Biological Sciences 370 (1675) 20140295. (10.1098/rstb.2014.0295)
- Pi, C. et al., 2015. Increased biodiversity in the environment improves the humoral response of rats. PLoS ONE 10 (4) e0120255. (10.1371/journal.pone.0120255)
- Shilling, F. , Perkins, S. E. and Collinson, W. 2015. Wildlife/roadkill observation and reporting systems. In: van der Ree, R. , Smith, D. J. and Grilo, C. eds. Handbook of Road Ecology. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. , pp.492-501. (10.1002/9781118568170.ch62)
- Sherrard-Smith, E. et al. 2015. Spatial and seasonal factors are key determinants in the aggregation of helminths in their definitive hosts: Pseudamphistomum truncatum in otters (Lutra lutra). International Journal for Parasitology 45 (1), pp.75-83. (10.1016/j.ijpara.2014.09.004)
2014
- Drewe, J. and Perkins, S. E. 2014. Disease transmission in animal social networks. In: Jens, K. et al., Animal Social Networks. Oxford University Press. , pp.95-110.
2013
- Van Oosterhout, C. et al., 2013. Invasive freshwater snails provide resource for native marine hermit crabs. Aquatic Invasions 8 (2), pp.185-191. (10.3391/ai.2013.8.2.06)
- Lass, S. et al., 2013. Generating super-shredders: co-infection increases bacterial load and egg production of a gastrointestinal helminth. Journal of the Royal Society Interface 10 (80) 20120588. (10.1098/rsif.2012.0588)
- Chadwick, E. A. et al. 2013. Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) in England and Wales. Parasites & Vectors 6 75. (10.1186/1756-3305-6-75)
- Lass, S. et al., 2013. Generating super-shedders: co-infection increases bacterial load and egg production of a gastrointestinal helminth. Journal of The Royal Society Interface 10 (80) 20120588. (10.1098/rsif.2012.0588)
- White, T. A. et al., 2013. Adaptive evolution during an ongoing range expansion: the invasive bank vole (Myodes glareolus) in Ireland. Molecular Ecology 22 (11), pp.2971-2985. (10.1111/mec.12343)
2012
- Dunn, A. M. et al., 2012. Indirect effects of parasites in invasions. Functional Ecology 26 (6), pp.1262-1274. (10.1111/j.1365-2435.2012.02041.x)
- Parker, W. et al., 2012. A prescription for clinical immunology: the pills are available and ready for testing. A review. Current Medical Research and Opinion 28 (7), pp.1193-1202. (10.1185/03007995.2012.695731)
- Trama, A. M. et al., 2012. Lymphocyte phenotypes in wild-caught rats suggest potential mechanisms underlying increased immune sensitivity in post-industrial environments. Cellular and Molecular Immunology 9 (2), pp.163-174. (10.1038/cmi.2011.61)
- White, T. A. et al., 2012. Range expansion in an invasive small mammal: influence of life-history and habitat quality. Biological Invasions 14 (10), pp.2203-2215. (10.1007/s10530-012-0225-x)
- White, T. A. , Perkins, S. E. and Dunn, A. 2012. The ecoimmunology of invasive species. Functional Ecology 26 (6), pp.1313-1323. (10.1111/1365-2435.12012)
2011
- Bilbo, S. et al., 2011. Reconstitution of the human biome as the most reasonable solution for epidemics of allergic and autoimmune diseases. Medical Hypotheses 77 (4), pp.494-504. (10.1016/j.mehy.2011.06.019)
- Ferrari, M. et al., 2011. Pathogens, social networks, and the paradox of transmission scaling. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Infectious Diseases 2011 267049. (10.1155/2011/267049)
2010
- Fenton, A. and Perkins, S. E. 2010. Applying predator-prey theory to modelling immune-mediated, within-host interspecific parasite interactions. Parasitology 137 (6), pp.1027-1038. (10.1017/S0031182009991788)
- Luong, L. T. et al., 2010. The relative importance of host characteristics and co-infection in generating variation in Heligmosomoides polygyrus fecundity. Parasitology 137 (6), pp.1003-1012. (10.1017/S0031182009991892)
2009
- Lacharme-Lora, L. et al., 2009. Bacteria isolated from parasitic nematodes - a potential novel vector of pathogens?. Environmental Health 8 (S 1) S17. (10.1186/1476-069X-8-S1-S17)
- Calatayud, L. et al., 2009. Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus outbreak in a school in London, April-May 2009: an observational study. Epidemiology and Infection 138 (2), pp.183-191. (10.1017/S0950268809991191)
- Dunham, E. J. et al., 2009. Different evolutionary trajectories of European avian-like and classical swine H1N1 influenza A viruses. Journal of Virology 83 (11), pp.5485-5494. (10.1128/JVI.02565-08)
- Grear, D. , Perkins, S. E. and Hudson, P. 2009. Does elevated testosterone result in increased exposure and transmission of parasites?. Ecology Letters 12 (6), pp.528-537. (10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01306.x)
- Krichbaum, K. , Perkins, S. E. and Gannon, M. 2009. Host-parasite interactions of tropical bats in Puerto Rico. Acta Chiropterologica 11 (1), pp.157-162. (10.3161/150811009X465776)
- Lacharme Lora, L. et al., 2009. Use of bioluminescent bacterial biosensors to investigate the role of free-living helminths as reservoirs and vectors of Salmonella. Environmental Microbiology Reports 1 (3), pp.198-207. (10.1111/j.1758-2229.2009.00031.x)
- Perkins, S. et al. 2009. Comparison of social networks derived from ecological data: Implications for inferring infectious disease dynamics. Journal of Animal Ecology 78 (5), pp.1015-1022. (10.1111/j.1365-2656.2009.01557.x)
2008
- Perkins, S. E. , Ferrari, M. F. and Hudson, P. J. 2008. The effects of social structure and sex-biased transmission on macroparasite infection. Parasitology 135 (13), pp.1561-1569. (10.1017/S0031182008000449)
- Lee, L. et al., 2008. Vaccine-era varicella epidemiology and vaccine effectiveness in a public elementary school population, 2002-2007. Pediatrics 121 (6), pp.e1548-e1554. (10.1542/peds.2007-2031)
2007
- Rosà, R. et al., 2007. Temporal variation of ixodes ricinus intensity on the rodent host apodemus flavicollis in relation to local climate and host dynamics. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases 7 (3), pp.285-295. (10.1089/vbz.2006.0607)
2006
- Dobson, A. et al., 2006. Sacred cows and sympathetic squirrels: the importance of biological diversity to human health. Plos Medicine 3 (6) e231. (10.1371/journal.pmed.0030231)
- Perkins, S. E. and Fenton, A. 2006. Helminths as vectors of pathogens in vertebrate hosts: a theoretical approach. International Journal for Parasitology 36 (8), pp.887-894. (10.1016/j.ijpara.2006.04.001)
2005
- Kallio-Koko, H. et al., 2005. Hantavirus and arenavirus antibody prevalence in rodents and humans in Trentino, Northern Italy. Epidemiology and Infection 134 (04), pp.830. (10.1017/S0950268805005431)
2003
- Perkins, S. E. et al. 2003. Empirical evidence for key hosts in persistence of a tick-borne disease. International Journal for Parasitology 33 (9), pp.909-917. (10.1016/S0020-7519(03)00128-0)
Articles
- Robison-Smith, C. et al. 2026. Characterising marine plastic debris accumulations on Tobago coastal environments. Journal of Hazardous Materials: Plastics 100077. (10.1016/j.hazmp.2026.100077)
- Moore, L. J. et al., 2026. Beyond the individual: multisite population‐level consequences of road mortality on a declining mammal. Animal Conservation (10.1111/acv.70082)
- Asiri, A. , Perkins, S. E. and Müller, C. T. 2026. Wake up and smell the infected bees: Volatile cues of Vairimorpha infection in honey bees. Ecology and Evolution 16 (6) e73768. (10.1002/ece3.73768)
- Olsen, A. S. et al. 2026. Computer vision for infectious disease surveillance; Saprolegnia spp. in salmonids. Ecological Informatics 93 103567. (10.1016/j.ecoinf.2025.103567)
- Raymond, S. , Chadwick, E. A. and Perkins, S. E. 2026. Quantifying roadless areas and fragmentation in the context of wildlife-vehicle collision risk in Great Britain. Scientific Reports 16 3890. (10.1038/s41598-026-36410-8)
- Raymond, S. et al. 2026. Identifying hotspots and drivers of wildlife-vehicle collision risk using citizen science data: a case study focused on the European badger Meles meles. Biological Conservation 313 111601. (10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111601)
- Cook, N. D. et al. 2025. First record of a piebald leucistic smallspotted catshark Scyliorhinus canicula in a special area of conservation, UK. Marine Biodiversity 55 112. (10.1007/s12526-025-01602-4)
- McDowell, D. et al. 2025. Microinvertebrate consumption rates of Fasciola hepatica miracidia are not affected by alternate food.. International Journal for Parasitology 55 (11), pp.595-601. (10.1016/j.ijpara.2025.05.004)
- Cook, N. D. et al. 2025. Vertebral elemental composition reveals ontogenetic changes in habitat use in a Northeast Atlantic mesopredator shark. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 319 109255. (10.1016/j.ecss.2025.109255)
- Reynolds, M. et al. 2025. Parasites alter interaction patterns in fish social networks. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 292 (2047) 20250793. (10.1098/rspb.2025.0793)
- Yu, H. et al., 2025. Unexpected landscape-scale contemporary gene flow and fine-scale genetic diversity in rural hedgehogs. Conservation Genetics 26 , pp.391-401. (10.1007/s10592-025-01676-4)
- Michels, E. et al., 2025. The release of non-native gamebirds is associated with amplified zoonotic disease risk. Ecology Letters 28 (4) e70115. (10.1111/ele.70115)
- Asiri, A. , Perkins, S. E. and Muller, C. 2025. The smell of infection: Disease surveillance in insects using volatile organic compounds. Agricultural and Forest Entomology 27 (1), pp.81-89. (10.1111/afe.12651)
- Cook, N. et al. 2024. Temporal niche partitioning as a potential mechanism for coexistence in two sympatric mesopredator sharks. Frontiers in Marine Science 11 1443357. (10.3389/fmars.2024.1443357)
- Jones, C. B. , Stock, K. and Perkins, S. E. 2024. AI-based discovery of habitats from museum collections. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 39 (4), pp.323-327. (10.1016/j.tree.2024.01.006)
- Raymond, S. , Perkins, S. E. and Garrard, G. 2024. The Species at Risk Act (2002) and transboundary species listings along the US-Canada border. Humanities 13 (1) 38. (10.3390/h13010038)
- Cook, N. D. et al. 2024. Elasmobranch diversity around the southern Caribbean island of Tobago: Opportunities for conservation in a regional trade hub. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 104 e8. (10.1017/S0025315423000917)
- Moore, L. J. et al., 2023. Demographic effects of road mortality on mammalian populations: a systematic review. Biological Reviews 98 (4), pp.1033-1050. (10.1111/brv.12942)
- Raymond, S. et al. 2023. The impact of the COVID-19 lockdowns on wildlife-vehicle collisions in the UK. Journal of Animal Ecology 92 (6), pp.1244-1255. (10.1111/1365-2656.13913)
- Dunkley, K. et al., 2023. The presence of territorial damselfish predicts choosy client species richness at cleaning stations. Behavioral Ecology 34 (2), pp.269-277. arac122. (10.1093/beheco/arac122)
- Perkins, S. E. , Shilling, F. and Collinson, W. 2022. Anthropause opportunities: Experimental perturbation of road traffic and the potential effects on wildlife. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 10 833129. (10.3389/fevo.2022.833129)
- Watson, S. E. et al. 2021. Diet-driven mercury contamination is associated with polar bear gut microbiota. Scientific Reports 11 23372. (10.1038/s41598-021-02657-6)
- Raymond, S. et al. 2021. Temporal patterns of wildlife roadkill in the UK. PLoS ONE 16 (10) e0258083. (10.1371/journal.pone.0258083)
- Whittey, K. E. et al. 2021. Microhabitats of sharknose goby (Elacatinus evelynae) cleaning stations and their links with cleaning behaviour. Coral Reefs 40 , pp.1069-1080. (10.1007/s00338-021-02105-x)
- Edwards, T. et al. 2021. Passive citizen science: The role of social media in wildlife observations. PLoS ONE 16 (8) e0255416. (10.1371/journal.pone.0255416)
- Kent, E. , Schwartz, A. L. W. and Perkins, S. E. 2021. Life in the fast lane: roadkill risk along an urban-rural gradient. Journal of Urban Ecology 7 (1) juzz039. (10.1093/jue/juaa039)
- Watson, S. E. et al. 2020. Parasites of an Arctic scavenger; the wolverine (Gulo gulo). International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 13 , pp.178-185. (10.1016/j.ijppaw.2020.10.004)
- Dunkley, K. , Cable, J. and Perkins, S. E. 2020. Consistency in mutualism relies on local, rather than wider community biodiversity. Scientific Reports 10 21255. (10.1038/s41598-020-78318-x)
- Williams, S. et al. 2020. An evidence-based assessment of the past distribution of Golden and White-tailed Eagles across Wales. Conservation Science and Practice 2 (8) e240. (10.1111/csp2.240)
- Bíl, M. et al., 2020. Benefits and challenges of collaborating with volunteers: examples from national wildlife roadkill reporting systems in Europe. Journal for Nature Conservation 54 125798. (10.1016/j.jnc.2020.125798)
- Dunkley, K. et al. 2020. To clean or not to clean: cleaning mutualism breakdown in a tidal environment. Ecology and Evolution 10 (6), pp.3043-3054. (10.1002/ece3.6120)
- Wright, P. G. et al., 2020. Predicting hedgehog mortality risks on British roads using habitat suitability modelling. PeerJ 7 e8154. (10.7717/peerj.8154)
- Williams Schwartz, A. L. , Shilling, F. M. and Perkins, S. E. 2020. The value of monitoring wildlife roadkill. European Journal of Wildlife Research 66 18. (10.1007/s10344-019-1357-4)
- Watson, S. E. et al. 2019. Global change-driven use of onshore habitat impacts polar bear faecal microbiota. ISME Journal 13 , pp.2916-2926. (10.1038/s41396-019-0480-2)
- Dunkley, K. et al. 2019. Cleaner personality and client identity have joint consequences on cleaning interaction dynamics. Behavioral Ecology 30 (3), pp.703-712. (10.1093/beheco/arz007)
- Dunkley, K. et al. 2019. Long-term cleaning patterns of the sharknose goby (Elacatinus evelynae). Coral Reefs 38 (2), pp.321-330. (10.1007/s00338-019-01778-9)
- Jessica, S. , Perkins, S. and Cable, J. 2018. Transmission risk predicts avoidance of infected conspecifics in Trinidadian guppies. Journal of Animal Ecology 87 (6), pp.1525-1533. (10.1111/1365-2656.12885)
- Buck, J. C. and Perkins, S. 2018. Study scale determines whether wildlife loss protects against or promotes tick-borne disease. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 285 (1878) 20180218. (10.1098/rspb.2018.0218)
- Dunkley, K. , Cable, J. and Perkins, S. 2018. The selective cleaning behaviour of juvenile blue-headed wrasse (Thalassoma bifasciatum) in the Caribbean. Behavioural Processes 147 , pp.5-12. (10.1016/j.beproc.2017.12.005)
- Williams Schwartz, A. et al. 2018. Roadkill scavenging behaviour in an urban environment. Journal of Urban Ecology 4 (1) juy006. (10.1093/jue/juy006)
- Pascoe, E. L. et al. 2017. Network analysis of gut microbiota literature: an overview of the research landscape in non-human animal studies. ISME Journal 11 (12), pp.2644-2651. (10.1038/ismej.2017.133)
- Perkins, S. E. et al. 2017. Parasite community dynamics in an invasive vole - From focal introduction to wave front. International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 6 (3), pp.412-419. (10.1016/j.ijppaw.2017.07.005)
- Madden, J. R. and Perkins, S. E. 2017. Why did the pheasant cross the road? Long-term road mortality patterns in relation to management changes. Royal Society Open Science 4 (10) 170617. (10.1098/rsos.170617)
- Smallbone, W. et al. 2017. East-West divide: temperature and land cover drive spatial variation of Toxoplasma gondii infection in Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra) from England and Wales. Parasitology 144 (11), pp.1433-1440. (10.1017/S0031182017000865)
- McCallum, H. et al., 2017. Breaking beta: deconstructing the parasite transmission function. Philosophical Transactions B: Biological Sciences 372 (1719) 20160084. (10.1098/rstb.2016.0084)
- Stephenson, J. F. et al., 2017. Host heterogeneity affects both parasite transmission to and fitness on subsequent hosts. Philosophical Transactions B: Biological Sciences 372 (1719) 20160093. (10.1098/rstb.2016.0093)
- Wilson, A. J. et al., 2017. What is a vector?. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B - Biological Sciences 372 (1719) 20160085. (10.1098/rstb.2016.0085)
- Guzzetta, G. et al., 2017. Population dynamics of wild rodents induce stochastic fadeouts of a zoonotic pathogen. Journal of Animal Ecology 86 (3), pp.451-459. (10.1111/1365-2656.12653)
- Kreisinger, J. et al., 2015. Interactions between multiple helminths and the gut microbiota in wild rodents. Philosophical Transactions B: Biological Sciences 370 (1675) 20140295. (10.1098/rstb.2014.0295)
- Pi, C. et al., 2015. Increased biodiversity in the environment improves the humoral response of rats. PLoS ONE 10 (4) e0120255. (10.1371/journal.pone.0120255)
- Sherrard-Smith, E. et al. 2015. Spatial and seasonal factors are key determinants in the aggregation of helminths in their definitive hosts: Pseudamphistomum truncatum in otters (Lutra lutra). International Journal for Parasitology 45 (1), pp.75-83. (10.1016/j.ijpara.2014.09.004)
- Van Oosterhout, C. et al., 2013. Invasive freshwater snails provide resource for native marine hermit crabs. Aquatic Invasions 8 (2), pp.185-191. (10.3391/ai.2013.8.2.06)
- Lass, S. et al., 2013. Generating super-shredders: co-infection increases bacterial load and egg production of a gastrointestinal helminth. Journal of the Royal Society Interface 10 (80) 20120588. (10.1098/rsif.2012.0588)
- Chadwick, E. A. et al. 2013. Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) in England and Wales. Parasites & Vectors 6 75. (10.1186/1756-3305-6-75)
- Lass, S. et al., 2013. Generating super-shedders: co-infection increases bacterial load and egg production of a gastrointestinal helminth. Journal of The Royal Society Interface 10 (80) 20120588. (10.1098/rsif.2012.0588)
- White, T. A. et al., 2013. Adaptive evolution during an ongoing range expansion: the invasive bank vole (Myodes glareolus) in Ireland. Molecular Ecology 22 (11), pp.2971-2985. (10.1111/mec.12343)
- Dunn, A. M. et al., 2012. Indirect effects of parasites in invasions. Functional Ecology 26 (6), pp.1262-1274. (10.1111/j.1365-2435.2012.02041.x)
- Parker, W. et al., 2012. A prescription for clinical immunology: the pills are available and ready for testing. A review. Current Medical Research and Opinion 28 (7), pp.1193-1202. (10.1185/03007995.2012.695731)
- Trama, A. M. et al., 2012. Lymphocyte phenotypes in wild-caught rats suggest potential mechanisms underlying increased immune sensitivity in post-industrial environments. Cellular and Molecular Immunology 9 (2), pp.163-174. (10.1038/cmi.2011.61)
- White, T. A. et al., 2012. Range expansion in an invasive small mammal: influence of life-history and habitat quality. Biological Invasions 14 (10), pp.2203-2215. (10.1007/s10530-012-0225-x)
- White, T. A. , Perkins, S. E. and Dunn, A. 2012. The ecoimmunology of invasive species. Functional Ecology 26 (6), pp.1313-1323. (10.1111/1365-2435.12012)
- Bilbo, S. et al., 2011. Reconstitution of the human biome as the most reasonable solution for epidemics of allergic and autoimmune diseases. Medical Hypotheses 77 (4), pp.494-504. (10.1016/j.mehy.2011.06.019)
- Ferrari, M. et al., 2011. Pathogens, social networks, and the paradox of transmission scaling. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Infectious Diseases 2011 267049. (10.1155/2011/267049)
- Fenton, A. and Perkins, S. E. 2010. Applying predator-prey theory to modelling immune-mediated, within-host interspecific parasite interactions. Parasitology 137 (6), pp.1027-1038. (10.1017/S0031182009991788)
- Luong, L. T. et al., 2010. The relative importance of host characteristics and co-infection in generating variation in Heligmosomoides polygyrus fecundity. Parasitology 137 (6), pp.1003-1012. (10.1017/S0031182009991892)
- Lacharme-Lora, L. et al., 2009. Bacteria isolated from parasitic nematodes - a potential novel vector of pathogens?. Environmental Health 8 (S 1) S17. (10.1186/1476-069X-8-S1-S17)
- Calatayud, L. et al., 2009. Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus outbreak in a school in London, April-May 2009: an observational study. Epidemiology and Infection 138 (2), pp.183-191. (10.1017/S0950268809991191)
- Dunham, E. J. et al., 2009. Different evolutionary trajectories of European avian-like and classical swine H1N1 influenza A viruses. Journal of Virology 83 (11), pp.5485-5494. (10.1128/JVI.02565-08)
- Grear, D. , Perkins, S. E. and Hudson, P. 2009. Does elevated testosterone result in increased exposure and transmission of parasites?. Ecology Letters 12 (6), pp.528-537. (10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01306.x)
- Krichbaum, K. , Perkins, S. E. and Gannon, M. 2009. Host-parasite interactions of tropical bats in Puerto Rico. Acta Chiropterologica 11 (1), pp.157-162. (10.3161/150811009X465776)
- Lacharme Lora, L. et al., 2009. Use of bioluminescent bacterial biosensors to investigate the role of free-living helminths as reservoirs and vectors of Salmonella. Environmental Microbiology Reports 1 (3), pp.198-207. (10.1111/j.1758-2229.2009.00031.x)
- Perkins, S. et al. 2009. Comparison of social networks derived from ecological data: Implications for inferring infectious disease dynamics. Journal of Animal Ecology 78 (5), pp.1015-1022. (10.1111/j.1365-2656.2009.01557.x)
- Perkins, S. E. , Ferrari, M. F. and Hudson, P. J. 2008. The effects of social structure and sex-biased transmission on macroparasite infection. Parasitology 135 (13), pp.1561-1569. (10.1017/S0031182008000449)
- Lee, L. et al., 2008. Vaccine-era varicella epidemiology and vaccine effectiveness in a public elementary school population, 2002-2007. Pediatrics 121 (6), pp.e1548-e1554. (10.1542/peds.2007-2031)
- Rosà, R. et al., 2007. Temporal variation of ixodes ricinus intensity on the rodent host apodemus flavicollis in relation to local climate and host dynamics. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases 7 (3), pp.285-295. (10.1089/vbz.2006.0607)
- Dobson, A. et al., 2006. Sacred cows and sympathetic squirrels: the importance of biological diversity to human health. Plos Medicine 3 (6) e231. (10.1371/journal.pmed.0030231)
- Perkins, S. E. and Fenton, A. 2006. Helminths as vectors of pathogens in vertebrate hosts: a theoretical approach. International Journal for Parasitology 36 (8), pp.887-894. (10.1016/j.ijpara.2006.04.001)
- Kallio-Koko, H. et al., 2005. Hantavirus and arenavirus antibody prevalence in rodents and humans in Trentino, Northern Italy. Epidemiology and Infection 134 (04), pp.830. (10.1017/S0950268805005431)
- Perkins, S. E. et al. 2003. Empirical evidence for key hosts in persistence of a tick-borne disease. International Journal for Parasitology 33 (9), pp.909-917. (10.1016/S0020-7519(03)00128-0)
Book sections
- Shilling, F. , Perkins, S. E. and Collinson, W. 2015. Wildlife/roadkill observation and reporting systems. In: van der Ree, R. , Smith, D. J. and Grilo, C. eds. Handbook of Road Ecology. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. , pp.492-501. (10.1002/9781118568170.ch62)
- Drewe, J. and Perkins, S. E. 2014. Disease transmission in animal social networks. In: Jens, K. et al., Animal Social Networks. Oxford University Press. , pp.95-110.
Conferences
- Mozhdehi, M. H. et al., 2026. Habitat inference from biodiversity field notes. Presented at: KDD '26: The 32nd ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining Jeju Island, Republic of Korea 9-13 August 2026. Published in: Kim, W. , Lee, J. and Shim, K. eds. KDD '26: Proceedings of the 32nd ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining. [Habitat Inference from Biodiversity Field Notes]. ACM. , pp.11038-11049. (10.1145/3770855.3818941)
Research
My research combines ecology, disease biology, citizen science, and computational methods to understand how human-driven environmental change influences wildlife populations, species interactions, and ecosystem functioning. I work across disciplines to generate evidence that supports conservation, biodiversity monitoring, and environmental policy
Our group runs a citizen science project to collate wildlife-road interactions – 'Road Lab'. Members of the public send us the location of UK wildlife roadkill – birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles. We use GIS (Geographic Information Systems) to map where and when wildlife mortality occurs. Please see our website for more information https://www.theroadlab.co.uk/
Grants
My current research is funded by:
- UKRI
- KESS
- Welsh Government
Teaching
I am Deputy lead for the MSc Global Ecology and Conservation:
See more info here: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/taught/courses/course/global-ecology-and-conservation-msc
I teach on the following modules:
- Biodiversity Conservation (deputy module lead)
- Infection Biology and Epidemiology
- Advanced Research Methods
- Frontiers in Biosciences
- Ecology and Conservation (Marine Biology Field Course, Tobago)
- MSc Field Course (Marine Biology Field Course, Tobago)
- Biosciences Final Year Project
Biography
I studied Environmental Science at Plymouth University after which I worked for the UK Wildlife Trusts as a Conservation Officer. I started my research career several years later with a NERC Fellowship at Aberdeen University studying for a MSc Ecology. After this, I completed my PhD at Stirling University with Prof. Peter Hudson, studying the ecological dynamics of disease with a NERC Fellowship based at the Centro di Ecologia Alpina in the Italian Alps. My post-doc took me to the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics (CIDD) at Penn State University. I returned to the UK in 2009 to start a Marie Curie Fellowship at Cardiff University, after completion of which I became a Lecturer at Cardiff University.
Supervisions
Postgraduate students
Current lab group
- Shannon Ball - Hidden Risks: Identifying and Addressing High-Risk Behaviours for Zoonotic Disease Transmission. OneZoo UKRI DTP funded studentship 2025-2028. PhD supervision with Dr. Jo Lello, Biosciences, Dr. Gareth Enticott, Geography and Dr. Lewis Bott, Psychology.
- Izzy Wild - Rodent Routes: Mappy the Highways of Zoonitic Transmission on Farms. OneZoo UKRI DTP funded studentship 2025-2028. PhD supervision with Dr. Jo Lello, Biosciences, Dr. Gareth Enticott.
- Chessie Mason - Sentinel sharks: Anthropogenic contamination in sharks and their parasite community. NERC ECORISC CDT studentship with Cefas 2023 - 2027.
- Agnethe Olsen - Bridging ecology and technology: Using AI to track fish health. NERC GW4+ studentship 2020-2025
- Ayman Asiri - The 'smell of infection' - detecting infectious diseases and determining mechanisms underlying the spread of disease, 2021-2025
Prospective students
Please contact me if you are interested in graduate opportunities or research and field experience. I occasionally have funds for summer students and short-term research projects.
Graduated students
- Sarah Raymond (PhD) - Keeping habitats connected: Does wildlife mitigation work? NERC GW4+ studentship, 2020-2024 (now a post-doc at Oxford University).
- Neil Cook (PhD) - New technologies for rapid biodiversity assessments of individuals, populations and ecosytems. KESS Funded studentship, 2019-2024 (now working with The Wildlife Trust).
- Rhodri Phillips (MPhil) - Habitat connectivity. KESS funded MPhil (now working with the BTO).
- Kath Whittey (PhD) - The Extended Ecology of the Sharknose Goby, 2018-2022 (now a lecturer at Swansea University)
- Sophie-Lee Lane (PhD) – Reintroducing Eagles to Wales. KESS funded, 2017-2020 (now lead of Eagle Reintroduction Wales, funded by Durrell Conservation).
- Sophie Watson (PhD) - Microbiota-macrobiota interactions in Arctic wildlife. NERC funded, 2016-2020 (now a lecturer at Cardiff University).
- Katie Dunkley (PhD) - Cleaner-client interactions in the Caribbean. NERC funded. 2016-2019 (now a Fellow at Oxford University).
- Amy Schwartz (PhD) - The impact of roads on UK widlife. KESS funded, 2016-2019 (now Senior Ecologist at Wildwood Ecology).
- Emma Gillingham (PhD) – Climate change and parasitism (now at UKHSA).
- Emily Pascoe (PhD) – Macro-microbiome interactions (now a post-doc at Fondazione Edmund Mach, Italy).
Current supervision
Engagement
I run the UK's largest data collection of wildlife roadkill as a citizen science project. Follow our work at www.theroadlab.co.uk/
News articles
Contact Details
[email protected]
+44 29208 70490
Sir Martin Evans Building, Floor 6th , Room C 6.07, Museum Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3AX
+44 29208 70490
Sir Martin Evans Building, Floor 6th , Room C 6.07, Museum Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3AX
