Hester Weaving

Honorary Postdoctoral Research Associate (previously SWBio PhD candidate)

My interest lies with Applied Entomology and Ecology. I have an entomology background, having completed a Masters on the effect of pesticides on dung beetles (2018, Bristol) and an undergraduate dissertation project investigating the quantity of lipid maintained in blow flies. My research interests led me to begin a PhD on maternal investment in tsetse fly, vector of African trypanosome parasites. I am investigating the allocation of nutrients from mother to offspring under different environmental scenarios. I recently moved to UC Davis to take on a postdoc position in mosquito control in the Vector Genetics Laboratory.

Sofia Samoylova

University of Bristol Climate and Health Scholarship PhD Student

My research interest lies with the effect of maternal environment on progeny health and survival. I graduated from the University of Bath having completed my Molecular Biosciences MSc (2021-2022) and my Biochemistry BSc(2018-2021). During my MSc I undertook projects studying the effects of maternal famine on progeny metabolism and analysing wound healing within the context of diabetes using zebrafish as a model. For my Bachelors final year project, I analysed the incorporation of endogenous traits such as axolotl limb regeneration into the human genome. My current PhD project focuses on the impact of heat on pregnancy outcomes through an interdisciplinary and cross-species approach.

Andy Saxon

Research Technician

My research background has primarily focused on how environmental and genetic variation interact to affect key fitness traits. Currently, I am investigating molecular responses to heat stress in pregnancy in Diploptera punctata. My PhD (2018, Bristol) utilised tropical Drosophila to measure such fitness variation across elevational gradients. Previously, my Master's research (2011, Bath) involved generating species distribution models for birds, to aid conservation efforts in the Cape Verde islands, and my Bachelor's project (2007, UWE) explored how woodland management strategies impact fungal diversity. Prior to my work in the EVE lab, I have been a research technician on varied projects, such as investigating the underlying molecular mechanisms of incipient speciation in African cichlids, developing environmental DNA assays to improve aquaculture production in Tanzania and using eDNA metabarcoding to characterise fish biodiversity in Tanzanian river systems.

Harry Layfield

Honorary Research Associate

My research interests are primarily based on utilising genomic tools to answer key ecological and evolutionary questions about invertebrates. My work in the EVE lab investigates how heat stress can influence pregnancy in the cockroach Diploptera punctata. Specifically, by investigating the impacts of heat stress in gene expression and regulation across the different life stages. My PhD focussed on the diversity and speciation of invertebrates in freshwater ecosystems using environmental DNA metabarcoding and whole genome sequencing.

Iswarya Mohan

Bristol (EPSRC) and Macquarie (Cotutelle) PhD Student

My PhD investigates how maternal behaviour and larval environment influence disease transmission in mosquitoes, using modelling and experimental approaches. Having a master's degree in public health entomology, my academic interests lie in integrating ecological, behavioural, and epidemiological approaches to enhance the understanding of vector-borne disease dynamics. Previously, I worked on two distinct projects, one focused on investigating the seasonal dynamics of dengue vectors and their implications for transmission risk in Bangalore, India. The other involved understanding and co-developing interventions targeting scrub typhus, leptospirosis, and Kyasanur Forest Disease, affecting forest communities in the Western Ghats of India.