Fay Webster

Understanding the effect of protected areas on zoonotic disease spread in Central Asia.

Fay Webster is a veterinarian and infectious disease researcher at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), where she investigates how protected and conserved areas in Central Asia influence the emergence and spread of zoonotic diseases. Her work combines wildlife monitoring, pathogen surveillance, and studies of human–wildlife interactions to understand disease risk in changing landscapes.

Trained as a veterinarian at Freie Universität Berlin, Fay conducted her doctoral research in Evolutionary Parasitology at Humboldt University and the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research. Her PhD combined experimental infections, long-term fieldwork, and machine-learning approaches to predict the health impacts of parasitic infections in wild rodent populations in Germany. She has conducted field diagnostics in Namibia and gained advanced molecular and bioinformatics training at the Francis Crick Institute and the Royal Veterinary College.

Her research spans diverse systems, from anthelmintic resistance in Mongolian livestock to the parasite ecology of African carnivores, always grounded in a One Health perspective. Through the IKI One Health programme, she works closely with local partners, communities, and government agencies to co-develop protocols, build capacity, and strengthen regional expertise in wildlife disease ecology and conservation.