Wildlife Veterinarian & Research Associate
Curriculum vitae
- 2020-Present: Wildlife Veterinarian & Research Associate, IOZ, ZSL
- 2020-Present: Veterinary Surgeon, RSPCA Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre and Cattery
- 2020-Present: Guest Lecturer, Manchester Metropolitan University
- 2020: Guest Lecturer, University of Liverpool School of Veterinary Science
- 2020: Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (TLiHE) Course, RVC
- 2018-2020: Veterinary Surgeon (Locum), Various
- 2019: Asian Elephant Health and Breeding Management Course, Chiang Mai, Thailand
- 2018-2019: MSc Wild Animal Health (with Merit), ZSL/RVC
- 2017-2019: Veterinary Surgeon (Pro Bono), East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service
- 2016-2018: Veterinary Surgeon, Ark Veterinary Group
- 2011-2016: BVetMed, Royal Veterinary College, London
Professional organisations
- Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
- Member of the British Veterinary Zoological Society
Research Interests
I currently work as a Wildlife Veterinarian and Research Associate within the Disease Risk Analysis and Health Surveillance (DRAHS) team at the Institute of Zoology, ZSL. The DRAHS project works in partnership with Natural England (NE) and other key collaborators to assess the risk of disease during conservation interventions and undertake post-release health surveillance to inform future decision making. To find out more about DRAHS and our work please click here.
I combine my role within the DRAHS team with a job as a veterinary surgeon at RSPCA Stapeley Grange, a busy wildlife hospital and rehabilitation centre in Cheshire. This role involves undertaking clinical veterinary work in hundreds of British wildlife species across multiple taxa.
I am passionate about wildlife and particularly interested in epidemiology of viral diseases in free-living wildlife and how this can be used to positively impact conservation.
Publications
Common SM, Yun Y, Silva-Fletcher A, Thitaram C, Janyamethakul T, Khammesri S, Molenaar FM. (2021). Developing a non-invasive method of detecting elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus infections using faecal samples. Vet Rec. https://doi.org/10.1002/vetr.833
Common, SM, Shadbolt, T, Walsh, K, Sainsbury, AW (2021) The risk from SARS‐CoV‐2 to bat species in England and mitigation options for conservation field workers. Transbound Emerg Dis. 2021 https://doi.org/10.1111/tbed.14035
