Research Group
Research Overview
I design and analyse ecological and epidemiological models to find new solutions for improving plant health and for developing international pest management strategies, taking a mathematical, statistical, and, more recently, an economic approach. My research focuses on the interactions between insect, pathogen, and plant, in relation to the dynamics of crop epidemics and management. A particular focus has been on viral plant pathogens with destructive impacts on human livelihoods such as whitefly-borne cassava mosaic and brown streak viruses. I also work as part of an interdisciplinary team who undertake field work in East Africa, including colleagues at the University of Cambridge (Virology & Molecular Plant Pathology) and applied experimental biologists located at BecA ILRI, Nairobi.
Previous Positions
2015 to 2025 - Research Associate - Department of Plant Sciences, Cambridge, UK
2010 to 2011 - Research placement - Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland (BIOSS), Edinburgh, UK
Qualifications
2015 - PhD - Department of Mathematics, Heriot-Watt University
2010 - MRes - Mathematics in the Living Environment, University of York
2005 - BSc - Mathematical Sciences, DCU, Republic of Ireland
Key Publications
'What is pathogen-mediated insect superabundance? ', (2020), Journal of the Royal Society Interface.