Research Projects

My research covers the broad sphere of issues relating to animal health. I am interested in the regulation of animal health; the governance of animal health; the communication of animal health risks to farmers; and understandings and attitudes to animal health risk by people living in rural areas.

My research projects are listed below:


Styles of Veterinary Regulation

This project is funded by the ESRC and runs from 2008-2010.
The aim of this project is to examine the importance and practice of veterinary regulation for rural veterinary practices and vets themselves. The study is based around the significance of TB testing for veterinary practices in England and Wales. Ethnographic methods such as workshadowing vets in a limited number of veterinary practices are being used. More information can be found on the project's home page.


Understanding Animal Health

This ESRC project ran from 2006-2008. The project examined the governance of animal health, focusing specifically on bovine tuberculosis. The project examined how farmers understood the disease, how these understandings interacted with government advice and what this meant for the communication and uptake of biosecurity. The project also examined the role of partnership governance in developing biosecurity guidelines, and the role of trading standards in enforcing new animal health regulations. More information on the project can be found on the project's home page.

Veterinary Capacity in Wales

This project was funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and runs from 2008-9. Stage 1 of the project examined veterinary capacity in Wales to deliver the Government's proposed bovine tuberculosis "Health Check". Stage 2 will examine the impact of the Health Check on rural veterinary practices following its completion in 2009. More information on the project can be found on the project's home page.


Evaluating Biosecurity

This project was funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and ran from 2006-2008. It was conducted with the Royal Veterinary College, ADAS and BRASS. The project examined the impact of the Welsh Assembly Government's Biosecurity Intensive Treatment Area - an attempt to encourage farmers to improve their biosecurity. More information on the project can be found on the project's home page.

Food Risks in Rural Areas

This project formed part of my PhD research between 1995-2000. The research examined how attitudes to risks were affected by social ties within rural community. The project focused on the risks of unpasteurised milk and was conducted using a community study of one village in north Devon. More information can be found on the project's home page.