Host–Parasite Dynamics and Immune Trade-Offs During Hibernation
Supervisors
Dr Davina Hill, School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow
Prof Eric Morgan, Biological Sciences, Queens University, Belfast
Dr Simon Babayan, School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow
Dr Julia Nowack, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University
Summary
Climate change is reshaping host–parasite dynamics, with rising temperatures increasing parasite transmission and posing new risks to seasonal species like hibernators. During torpor, hibernators suppress immune function, potentially leaving them vulnerable to infection. This PhD project will investigate how parasite load affects hibernation and health in European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus), a widespread UK species suitable for minimally invasive biologging studies. Implications of climate change for animal energetics through altered seasonal parasite transmission will be explored for this system and more widely.
The successful candidate will experimentally manipulate parasite load in wild hedgehogs before hibernation and monitor their hibernation patterns using cutting-edge temperature sensors. Health will be assessed using biomarkers of immune function, parasite load and body condition. A mechanistic model will be developed, building on frameworks recently tested in livestock, and outputs compared with experimental data. The potential of novel diagnostic and inflammatory markers to validate such models and enhance ability to predict climate change effects on animal fitness and productivity will be assessed.
This interdisciplinary project combines parasitology, immunology, field ecology, data science and predictive modelling to forecast how climate change may alter parasite risks in hibernators and other animal systems. The research has wider implications for disease transmission across wildlife, livestock, and humans—contributing to One Health approaches in epidemiology.