Pathology and Research Technician
Brief Curriculum Vitae
- 2018 - present: Pathology Assistant to the Veterinary Deparment, Zoological Society of London
- 2017 - 2018: Research Technician for Bats and Bugs, Institute of Zoology
- 2016 - present: Pathology Technician, DRAHS Project, Institute of Zoology
- 2015 - 2016: Admissions assistant at the Zoological Society of London
- 2014 - 2015: MSc Wild Animal Biology, Royal Veterinary College and Zoological Society of London
- 2010 - 2013: BA Biological Sciences at the University of Oxford
Research Interests
My main area of interest is promoting the conservation of native and exotic species (which includes looking at how diseases are spread in the wild), what can be done to monitor their occurrence and how they can be managed when undertaking reintroductions. I am also passionate about scientific outreach and promoting the work ZSL and IoZ do to members of the public, and the conservation work that takes place.
Previous Work
I have been involved specifically with ZSL since 2013, starting as a weekend learning volunteer which involved informing members of the public about ZSL London Zoo. Since then, I have volunteered in the BUGS department, the Herpetology department, the as well as working in the Admissions department and Discovery and Learning education department.
In 2015 I completed a masters at the Royal Veterinary College in Wild Animal Biology, and focused my masters thesis on the impact of feeding enrichment devices on tree-runner lizards (plica plica), working alongside Dr Christopher Michaels in the Herpetology department at ZSL. The lizards I used for my thesis are currently on display in the reptile house. My thesis was published in Applied Animal Behaviour in 2016, and I have since talked about my findings in conferences such as the Reptile and Amphibian Working group conference in 2016.
Since 2016, I have worked on the Disease Risk Analysis and Health Surveillance (DRAHS) project at the Institute of Zoology, along with Dr Tony Sainsbury and Jenny Jaffe. This project looks at examining any risks of diseases in wild animal translocations and reintroductions, and aims to reduce this risk as much as possible using disease risk analysis and post-release health surveillance techniques, which involve collaborative work with other British conservation organizations as well as field work at the translocation sites. We work towards promoting as much biodiversity as possible within England, by researching reintroduction protocols of more endangered British species such as pool frogs (Pelophylax lessonae), and common dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius), We also monitor disease occurrences in reintroduction sites and write reports on our findings which can be used by other organizations to assist with their reintroduction methods.
Since mid-2017 I have also started working on the Bats and Bugs as a research technician, under Professor Andrew Cunningham and Louise Gibson. The project looks at the epidemiology of zoonotic viruses in African bats, in particular henipaviruses, Lagos bat virus and filoviruses. We are also currently setting up a database which is an archive of over 25,000 samples collected in the last ten years in association with the Bats and Bugs research.
Publications
Januszczak, I, Michaels, C. "Is behavioural enrichment always a success? Comparing food presentation strategies in an insectivorous lizard (Plica plica)." Applied Animal Behaviour Science 183 (2016): 95-103.
Harding, Luke; Benjamin Tapley,, iri Gill, Daniel Kane, Francesca Servini, Inez S. Januszczak, Joe-Smiley Capon-Doyle, and Christopher J Michaels. "Captive Husbandry and Breeding of the Tree-runner lizard (Plica plica) at ZSL London Zoo." Herpetological Bulletin 138 (2016).
