Alice Risely

Alice Risely is a Research Fellow at Deakin University, specializing in the intersection of ecology, microbiology, and global change processes. Her work investigates how climate change and land-use alterations influence wildlife interactions with their commensal microbiomes, particularly in migratory species.

• Current Role: Research Fellow, Salford University (2023–present)
• Prior Role: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Ulm University (2018–2022)
• Education: MSc (University of East Anglia, 2012), BSc Zoology (Durham University, 2006)

Research focuses on disease ecology in migratory animals, challenging assumptions that migrants are primary culprits in global pathogen spread. Her studies highlight physiological constraints on microbial invasion in migratory shorebirds, suggesting pathogens face significant challenges in hitchhiking across ecosystems.

Key findings from her 2018 article in The Conversation include evidence that migratory animals experience fitness costs when infected, potentially limiting long-distance pathogen transmission. Collaborative work with Bethany J Hoye (University of Wollongong) and Marcel Klaassen (Deakin University) underscores the complexity of host-pathogen dynamics during extreme physiological stress like migration.