Louise is the Biobank Manager and Chair of the Coral Cryopreservation Group at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) Institute of Zoology (IOZ).
Louise’s main area of research is looking at the epidemiology of emerging zoonotic viruses in African bats, including henipaviruses, Lagos bat virus and filoviruses. Louise has always been passionate about diagnostics and having started her scientific career in forensics, she is also interested in seeing how the techniques she learnt there can be transferred to other areas of wildlife epidemiological research.
She is also interested in seeing how laboratory techniques can improve and develop, and how these can be incorporated despite variations in resources to help humans and wildlife co-exist more harmoniously. As part of her work, Louise uses of forensic techniques to help end the illegal wildlife trade. She also manages the ZSL Biobank, a biological library, making its biological collections accessible to the wider conservation community.
