Weeds in Wildlife Microbiomes: antibiotic resistant bacteria in wildlife - free and online, link below to book
Thursday, 30 March 2023 at 6:00 pm Presented by Professor Michelle Power DPE NSW Wildlife Webinar Series 2023
The spread of antibiotic resistance in wildlife signals an increasing impact of the global issue of antimicrobial resistance. This talk will discuss the widespread occurrence of antibiotic resistance in Australia’s wildlife. Comparisons of antibiotic resistance in flying foxes and koalas, in free-range animals and those undergoing care, will also be presented. The talk will end with a discussion about the significance of antibiotic resistant bacteria in wildlife, and the health and management of species.
Professor Michelle Power, School of Natural Sciences Macquarie University, is passionate about science and making a difference to wildlife health. Michelle’s research focuses on transmission of disease agents at the wildlife : human interface, with foci on zoonoses and reverse zoonoses.
Michelle’s research career began as a parasitologist investigating parasites that cause gastrointestinal illness, however, she now studies a broad range of pathogens and has purposefully shifted from the traditional approaches of one host – one pathogen model towards studies of co-infection. More recently, Michelle’s research efforts have focussed on examining the ecology of antimicrobial resistance in wildlife where her group is bolstering knowledge of the wildlife arm of the One Health approach to combatting antimicrobial resistance. Her research group works on a wide array of hosts that have been selected due to their close connectivity with people, mainly through urban adaptation or conservation management. The main species dominating her current research are flying fox, possums, koalas, Tasmanian devils and pinnipeds, and extensive collaborations with ecologists and veterinarians make this work possible.
Michelle is also passionate about science communication and engaging the public in research, including citizen science initiatives where people have collected possum scats for pathogen surveillance via the Scoop a Poop Citizen Science initiative.