Badger Ageing, Demographic, Genomic and Epidemiological Research
Badger Ageing, Demographic, Genomic and Epidemiological Research
Posted by dh526
5 May 2026We are pleased to launch the website for our new research project investigating how wildlife diseases persist, spread and change through time.
The project brings together ecology, genomics, demography, epidemiology, ageing research, social network analysis and statistical modelling. By combining these approaches, we aim to better understand the hidden processes that shape disease dynamics in wild populations — including survival, movement, infection, transmission, kinship and population change.
Bovine tuberculosis is a complex issue with consequences for farming, wildlife, conservation, policy and rural communities. This project is not a campaigning platform and does not begin from a predetermined management position. Our role is to improve the evidence base through careful, transparent and balanced science.
Although badgers and bTB are central to the study system, the wider questions are relevant to wildlife disease more broadly. How do diseases persist in open and changing populations? Why do infection patterns fluctuate through time? How do genetics, social behaviour, ageing and movement influence disease dynamics? And how can long-term data help us understand processes that are difficult to observe directly?
Through this website, we will share project updates, accessible explainers, research outputs, events and resources as the project develops. We will also use our social media channels to provide shorter updates and direct readers here for more detailed information.
We look forward to sharing the science as the project progresses.