William McLellan
Email address: 2146238M@student.gla.ac.uk
Research title: Human and livestock influence on tick populations and the environmental hazards of Tick-Borne Pathogens
Research summary
I'm broadly interested in understanding how anthropogenic changes to the environment, for example through livestock, tourism, or outdoor activities, affects wildlife behaviour and the wider impacts of this human wildlife conflict.
For my PhD, I'm investigating how humans and livestock influence their own risk from tick-borne diseases in the UK, through disturbing wildlife. By using structural equation modelling, among other statistical methods, I aim to examine if a shift in deer space-use, caused by humans or livestock, can precipitate an ecological trophic cascade through to ticks and pathogens and test the various pathways through which this might be possible.
Supervisors
External supervisors
Mara Rocchi (Moredun Research Institute),
Jude Eze (Scottish Rural College)
Conferences
The British Ecological Society Annual Meeting 2025 - poster presentation