I am a microbiologist, interested in how bacterial communities respond to stress. I am primarily interested in how bacteria adapt to become antibiotic resistant, in a range of environments due to a range of stressors.
During my PhD at the University of Exeter I looked at how bacterial communities responded after being exposed to different non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals. I wanted to know if being exposed to these pharmaceuticals (that were things such as a painkiller) would they be more likely to become antibiotic resistant.
I am currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Exeter, down in Cornwall on their Penryn campus. I am working to understand at what concentrations antibiotics select for resistance in the environment. We want to know where and at what concentrations antibiotic resistance might be selected for in the environment so that mitigations can be properly targeted.
I live in mizzly, sunny Cornwall, right down at the bottom of the peninsula. I read a lot of books, and I spend my time either reading, making something out of yarn, clay or textiles, and being in the sea.
April Hayes 