Covid-19 and its effects in animals 

I attempted to summarise the effects COVID-19 has had on different animal populations, including non-human primates, domestic cats and dogs, mustelids and bats, by looking at published literature including scientific papers, articles and websites. This has been prepared as an article for the Animal Welfare Research Network (AWRN). In doing this, I hoped to understand how animals are being infected, how aggressive the illness is, how many deaths have occurred, how all these factors have a knock-on effect to the animals themselves and whether vaccine programs for animals work. Due to the immense amount of research and species’ I wanted to investigate, the article took a long time to produce but is currently in the final stages for imminent submission.   

Supervisor: Professor John T. Hancock

Funding Body: Faculty of Health & Applied Sciences

Targeting nutritional pathways in Alzheimer’s Disease

Autophagy is a process that promotes cell survival by recycling unwanted proteins and other material within stressed or starving cells. It is thought that autophagy dysregulation contributes to the classic build-up of amyloid-b present in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s Disease. The overexpression of BCATc, a protein which normally plays a role in glutamate metabolism in the brain, may be associated with the autophagy dysregulation that occurs in Alzheimer’s Disease. Through the use of cell culture techniques and western blot analysis, I investigated the relationship between autophagy and BCATc. By inhibiting autophagy at different stages of the process and seeing how BCATc expression was affected, predictions could start to be made about the stages of autophagy that may become disrupted when BCATc is overexpressed within the brain. Undertaking a summer bursary project was a very enjoyable and interesting experience as it allowed me to broaden my laboratory skills by learning techniques I had never come across in the timetabled practical’s that are part of the Biomedical Science course. This project also allowed me to gain an insight into what conducting research and working in a laboratory environment is like.

Supervisor: : Professor Myra Conway

Funding Body: Department of Applied Science

Investigating species distributions in Bristol, using citizen science data

My project has involved using citizen science data taken from Bristol and Baths City Nature Challenge, to explore species distributions. The distribution of species is where different species are found in an area, this knowledge can be used to better understand a species behaviour and the effects of the environment around them. It is really useful and interesting to have information on the distribution of species in the area, as it allows us to gain a better understanding of how and what environmental factors could be potentially influencing the species.  From this, conservation and environmental action can be taken to aid the species survival. It’s important to use citizen science events such as the City Nature Challenge to monitor and investigate species distributions as it allows for large data sets to be formed, but also encourages individuals to be engaged in the nature around them and learn about protecting nature, drawing attention to the harmful effects that species have to deal with, such as urbanisation and climate change.

The species which I have been focusing on in this project are the European robin and mute swans. These birds are both commonly known and have been observed a number of times within the region. Both species of bird are facing threats due to climate change and urbanisation. Mute swans are facing a far bigger threat from urbanisation, with pollutants and man-made structures such as overhead river cables causing serious harm to the species. To explore the data, I have used several packages in the programme R, to analyse the distribution of the species in the Bristol and Bath region.

Supervisor: Dr Bethan Hindle

Funding bodies: Department of Applied Science Summer Bursary Scheme, UWE