MISS LUCY HENSHALL

Biography

I am a PhD Student based in Zoology studying Plague vector ecology and population genetics in Madagascar.

My research focuses on ecological study of 2 plague vectors in the highlands of Madagascar. I use various disciplines including ecology, epidemiology, along with Population genetics and landscape-scale modelling to hopefully  inform improved disease reduction strategies. Plague is a Neglected tropical disease which  mainly affects Madagascar, DRC and Peru,  with 40% a year in rural areas of the  Malagasy Highlands.

Before arriving at the University of Aberdeen, I studied at the National Oceanography Centre at the University of Southampton, completing an Integrated Master's degree in Marine Biology. During the 3rd year of my degree I studied at the University Centre in Svalbard, focussing on Arctic Ecology.

Towards the end of my Bachelor's degree, I began to focus on Molecular Biology and Parasitology, and chose a Master's project which included Population Genetics. During my Master's year I became increasingly interested in parasite dynamics and shortly after completing my thesis I went on to work in the Parasites & Vectors division of the Natural History Museum, assisting with the curation of the parasite collection. Before starting at the University of Aberdeen, I also worked as a Molecular Lab technician at Molecular eDNA company, NatureMetrics, gaining experience in eDNA extraction, qPCR and other molecular techniques. I began my PhD at the School of Biological Sciences in October 2019.

Current - QUADRAT PhD Student at University of Aberdeen, SBS

2017 - 2019 - Volunteer at Natural History Museum, Parasites & Vectors Division

2018 - Molecular Lab Technician at NatureMetrics^TM 

2013 - 2017 - MSci Marine Biology, University of Southampton  

Research Overview

My research interests focus mainly on Parasite interactions and zoonotic disease ecology, as well as population and landscape genetics. I am also interested in the effects of climate change and species expansion on parasite and disease dynamics.

I am also very interested in helminths, marine biology (especially invertebrate biology) and polar science.

Current Research

QUADRAT funded PhD with supervisors: Dr Sandra Telfer, Dr Sarah Helyar and Prof. Justin Travis

I have recently started the first year of my PhD, studying the spatio-temporal dynamics of two main plague vectors: flea species Xenopsylla cheopis and Synopsyllus fonquerniei.

Currently my focus is on the ecology and epidemiology of the plague in Madagascar with regards to these two vectors. Later on, I will move onto population genetics and landscape-scale-modelling using RangeShifter.