Alice Risely

Alice Risely is a Research Fellow at the University of Salford, affiliated with the School of Science, Engineering & Environment and the Environmental Research Centre. Her research focuses on molecular ecology with an emphasis on host-microbe interactions and the impacts of environmental change on microbial communities across diverse wildlife systems.

Dr. Risely's primary research interests center on how environmental changes impact microbial ecology and evolution, particularly focusing on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and pathogen emergence. She uses large gulls in the UK as her main study system, which are highly adapted to urban and agricultural environments, making them ideal models for understanding how land-use changes affect bacterial communities. Her work spans multiple wildlife systems including migratory birds, bats, meerkats, and amphibians, with particular attention to circadian and diurnal rhythms in host-microbe interactions and their physiological consequences.

Her publication record reveals a strong interdisciplinary approach combining molecular ecology, conservation biology, and environmental science. Her recent work demonstrates increasing focus on wildlife disease ecology, particularly examining tuberculosis progression in meerkats and viral infections in bats, while also investigating plasmid dynamics in wastewater systems and the role of mobile genetic elements in antimicrobial resistance spread. Her research has important implications for understanding disease emergence, conservation biology, and the ecological consequences of anthropogenic environmental change.

Dr. Risely is actively involved in teaching quantitative skills, including ecological statistics and coding in R. She contributes to several academic modules across different levels, from undergraduate Research Skills courses to postgraduate Research Skills and Designs in Conservation Science. Her publication on PhD supervision practices highlights her commitment to effective research training and identifying mismatches in expectations between candidates and supervisors.

She leads the citizen science project "Gulls Eating Stuff," which engages the public in scientific research by collecting photos of gulls eating various items to better understand gull diet and ecology. This initiative exemplifies her dedication to participatory science and public engagement with scientific research, contributing to multiple United Nations Sustainable Development Goals related to protecting terrestrial ecosystems and halting biodiversity loss.