Impacts of multiple stressors (pollutants and disease) on beavers in England

Eurasian beavers are semi-aquatic herbivorous rodents which became extinct in England around the 16th Century. Populations are beginning to return within some catchments in England and the DRAHS programme (an Institute of Zoology – Natural England partnership) has been set up to enable pathological investigations, tissue sample archiving, and background data collation from beaver carcasses.

This PhD will tap into this established program – and begin to build a holistic understanding of the exposure and impacts of a mixture of chemical pollutants (i.e., heavy metals, POPs, emerging pollutants) and disease agents (infectious agents, e.g., viruses, bacteria; non-infectious agents, e.g., nutrient deficiencies) within beavers, to inform future recovery. Likewise, it will help identify potential threats to other biota in the context of a One Health approach. Beavers represent a priority species for recovery and a ‘new’ semi-aquatic herbivorous biomonitoring sentinel.

This project will involve targeted and non-targeted chemical analysis of new and archived sample tissues (using a variety of tissue types) – employing techniques including ICP-OES/MS for inorganics and GC-FID/MS, GC-MS/MS and LC-MS/MS for organics (e.g., POPs, agrochemicals, emerging pollutants). State of the art instruments and facilities for such analysis exist within the host institutes (UHI, HWU, UKCEH). In terms of disease detection, the PhD student will work with the DRAHS group which currently delivers all beaver post-mortem examinations, diagnostic pathology, and sample archiving. The wider stakeholder group (i.e., the Environment Agency) will also facilitate access to other potentially valuable metadata such as relevant catchment water quality.

The PhD can begin to explore a range of questions, potentially including:

– Are there spatial (i.e., catchment) or temporal differences in disease presence and/or chemical pollution levels that could impact on beaver population recovery?

– What are the priority chemical substances of concern within (beaver created) wetlands in England?

– Is there a link between levels of chemicals and pathological findings in the beavers?

– What is the risk from disease transmission between beavers and other biota?

– Are there new chemical indicators that could be further developed and reported on (in future) to inform environmental policy?

The student will develop expertise in analytical chemistry, the diagnosis of disease, chemical fate and biomonitoring, statistical analyses, policy and regulation – all within the context of a broader ecological understanding of freshwater ecosystems and wildlife health. They will benefit from the opportunity to work with project supervisors at Natural England (expertise in ecotoxicology and mammal ecology), at the Institute of Zoology (Disease Risk Analysis and Health Surveillance; DRAHS) and with several academic partners (biogeochemists/wildlife toxicologists).      

We recognise that not every talented researcher will have had the same opportunities to advance their careers. We therefore will account for any particular circumstances that applicants disclose (e.g. parental leave, caring duties, part-time jobs to support studies, disabilities etc.) to ensure an inclusive and fair recruitment process.

For more information on how to apply, please visit the ECOWILD website: https://ecowild.site.hw.ac.uk/how-to-apply/