Cheryl Heard

Investigating the effects of air pollution on the brain health of urban wildlife.

Cheryl’s doctoral research addresses the growing conservation challenges posed by environmental pollution in urban ecosystems. As urbanisation and anthropogenic emissions increase, so too does the need to understand how pollutants such as heavy metals affect wildlife health. Drawing on her interdisciplinary background, Cheryl is investigating how environmental factors including air pollution, soil metal content, and urban landscapes influence the accumulation of toxic metals in wild animal brains.

Her current focus is on grey squirrels, which serve as sentinel species for monitoring metal exposure through inhalation. Using advanced analytical techniques (ICP-MS, LA-ICP-MS), she measures heavy metal concentrations in different brain regions to assess routes of entry and potential neurotoxic effects. This research is particularly timely given growing evidence linking metal exposure to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. While these links are increasingly studied in humans, much less is known about their impact on urban wildlife. By addressing this gap, Cheryl’s work aims to contribute to a One Health understanding of how urban pollution affects both animals and people.

Cheryl is supervised by Dr Patricia Brekke (primary supervisor) and Professor Andrew Cunningham at the Institute of Zoology. Her secondary supervisors are Dr Ursula Paredes and Dr Alecia Carter at University College London. She collaborates with Dr Alexander Morrell at King’s College London Metallomics Facility and Dr Ian Mudway at Imperial College London, who provide expertise in trace metal analysis and environmental epidemiology. Cheryl is funded by the London NERC Doctoral Training Partnership (NERC DTP) and supported by her CASE partner, Teledyne FLIR.