Dr. Kevin Bown
School of Science, Engineering and Environment
Current positions
Senior Lecturer in Biology; Programme Leader for Biology and Zoology
Biography
I studied for my first degree in Zoology at the University of Cardiff before completing an MRes in Ecology and Environmental Management at the University of York. My PhD was at the University of Liverpool where I studied diseases of woodland rodents with particular focus on vector-borne infections, before working as a Postdoctoral Researcher on the transmission and ecology of vector borne disease at Liverpool. I joined the School of Environment and Life Sciences in 2011 as a Lecturer in Biology and since 2015 I have been Programme Leader for the Biology, and Zoology programmes. In 2018 I was promoted to Senior Lecturer.
Areas of research
Ticks, Fleas, Disease Ecology, Zoonoses
My teaching links to my background in ecology and infectious disease and I coordinate the second year module ‘Ecology in Action’, as well as teaching on modules such as ‘Veterinary and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases’. I am interested in embedding quantitative skills through the curriculum both in formal statistics teaching and through practical, field and research based teaching.
My research focuses on the ecology and epidemiology of vector-borne infections. After discovering that rodents in the UK were reservoir hosts for Anaplasma phagocytophilum, a tick-borne bacterium of veterinary and medical importance, I undertook further research that demonstrated that different tick-host systems maintained discrete bacterial strains.
I am also investigating the ecology of Lyme borreliosis in northern England, assessing the role that different host species play in the maintenance of this medically important infection.
I am interested in the ecology of infectious diseases more generally, and the disruption of natural host-parasite relationships by invasive species.
Qualifications
- PgCert Academic Practice, University of Salford (2013)
- PhD, University of Liverpool (2000)
- MRes in Ecology and Environmental Management, University of York (1996)
- BSc (Hons) in Zoology, University of Cardiff (1993)
Memberships
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)