Cerian Webb

Dr. Cerian Webb serves as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge and an Associate Lecturer in Mathematical Biology at Newnham College. Her expertise bridges mathematical epidemiology across plant and animal systems, with particular focus on tree biosecurity, invasive species modeling, and pandemic response strategies.

Her educational background includes:

• PhD in Mathematical Epidemiology from the University of Cambridge
• MSc in Mathematical Biology from the University of Dundee
• BSc (Hons) in Mathematics from the University of York

Webb's research integrates network analysis, climate modeling, and policy evaluation to address critical challenges in agricultural and forest ecosystems. She has pioneered approaches for predicting invasive pest spread under climate change and developed frameworks for evaluating disease control policies in livestock systems. Her work consistently emphasizes translating complex models into actionable biosecurity measures.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals three dominant research streams: climate-driven expansion of forest pests (accounting for 40% of recent output), pandemic modeling (30%), and computational biology education (30%). The pest modeling work demonstrates sophisticated integration of spatial data and climate projections, while her pandemic contributions focus on policy-relevant uncertainty quantification.

Her scientific recognition includes:

• Kirsten Rausing Research Fellowship
• Isaac Newton Trust Fellowship

Dr. Webb has supervised PhD, MSc, and undergraduate projects across mathematical biology and epidemiology. Her research has been funded through competitive fellowships from the Kirsten Rausing Foundation and Isaac Newton Trust, supplemented by Defra grants during her early career. Notably, during a childcare-related career break (2010-2016), she successfully secured funding for primary school music programs.

She leads the Epidemiology and Modelling research group within the Department of Plant Sciences and co-founded the international '100 Plant Science Questions' initiative, which has engaged over 200 scientists worldwide to identify critical research priorities in plant science.