Mike Bonsall is a population biologist and has research interests across a range of disciplines including biodiversity, ecology, evolution, developmental biology, health and economics.

Cassidy completed undergraduate studies in Neuroscience and Developmental Biology and a medical degree from the University of Queensland, and holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Melbourne. She has more than five years experience working in hospital and laboratory-based medicine, human biosecurity and communicable disease public health.

My name is Dessy and I was born in Bulgaria but grew up in Japan. I completed my bachelor’s degree in Bioarchaeology, in York and master’s in bioinformatics and Systems Biology from University of Manchester.

Ceri completed a Masters in Entomology at Harper Adams in 2014 with a Scholarship from the Royal Entomological Society. Subsequently, she worked at Oxford University Museum of Natural History focusing on the saproxylic (deadwood) beetles of Wytham Woods as part of the TCV Natural Talent scheme. Ceri is one of the founding members of the Dung beetle UK Mapping Project (DUMP).

Sebald is a student on the interdisciplinary bioscience DTP DPhil program. Before starting his DPhil he studied biomedical sciences and worked hands-on in molecular genetics wet-labs, specifically with CRISPR. He is interested in (eukaryotic) synthetic biology, genetic engineering, gene drive, and forming a startup.

As part of my PhD thesis I am investigating the diversity and drivers of tropical coral reef cryptofauna communities in the Indian Ocean.

Mark studied Biological Sciences at the University of Oxford before joining the BBSRC Oxford Interdisciplinary Bio DTP. He his working with MERG to use theoretical techniques to explore how kin selection may drive the evolution of senescence. 

Maisie studied Biological Sciences at Oxford, before conducting a Master’s in Tropical Forest Ecology at Imperial College, London. Her main interests lie in vector ecology and, as such, her DPhil project is centred around the broad ecological implications of releasing self-limiting GM mosquitoes.  She will approach this using both theoretical mathematical models, and experiments in the laboratory/ field.

Laura joined the Environmental Research NERC DTP for her DPhil project on coral reef connectivity in the Indian Ocean. Before coming to Oxford, she studied Biology at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen in Germany and moved closer to the water afterwards to study Marine Biology and Ecology at James Cook University in Australia and Papua New Guinea. Hooked on coral reefs and climate change she pursued a Master’s in Tropical Marine Biology at the University of Essex in the UK. Her interests in modelling coral distribution and climate change scenarios led to a Research Associate position at the Duke University Marine Laboratory in North Carolina working on ecological and social impacts of marine protected areas.

The main focus of Stefan's DPhil project is to apply high-throughput sequencing to study the impact of various drivers of the adaptive immune repertoire of avian hosts. 

John T. (J.T.) O’Brien, MS, is the Research Associate for the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense and is currently pursuing his DPhil in Biology at the University of Oxford. He is a biodefense professional with a background in bioengineering and emerging infectious diseases.