Current Final Years
Current Third Years
Current Second Years
Current First Years
Current Final Years
Emily Stonelake
Standard studentship with associate partner: In collaboration with Swansea University + Cardiff University
Emily graduated from Cardiff University with an Integrated Masters in Neuroscience. During her studies, she gained research experience investigating the effect of risk genes in stem-cell derived microglial models of Alzheimer’s disease. She then undertook her master’s project in the Brain Repair Group under supervision of Dr Mariah Lelos, which looked at analysing the functional efficacy of stem cell-derived cell replacement therapies in a rodent model of Parkinson’s disease.
Emily is now undertaking a PhD under the supervision of Prof Yuqin Wang at Swansea University in collaboration with Prof Meng Li at Cardiff University. The project aims to investigate the interplay of cholesterol homeostasis and neural development, combining both neural stem cell technology and advanced mass spectrometry techniques.
Current Third Years
Luca Hahn
Standard studentship with associate partner: In collaboration with University of the Exeter + Swansea University
Luca graduated from the University of Cologne (Germany) with a BSc in Biology, focusing on animal behaviour, ecology, evolution, and biodiversity. He then pursued an MSc in Evolutionary and Behavioural Ecology at the University of Exeter in Cornwall, where he investigated cooperative nest building in wild jackdaw pairs.
Luca is particularly captivated by cognitive, social, and cultural evolution. He explores the behaviour and cognition of diverse animals in the wild through the lenses of behavioural ecology and comparative psychology, asking questions about their “social mind”, e.g. social learning, social relationships, cooperation, and communication.
During his PhD at the University of Exeter, supervised by Prof Alex Thornton, Luca aims to better understand the benefits and costs of social relationships in wild jackdaws. More specifically, using various methods, he studies how the social world might affect variables such as health, stress, food, and cultural knowledge.
Current Second Years
Suleiman Mustapha
Standard studentship with associate partner: In collaboration with Rothamsted Research + Swansea University
Suleiman holds a Master of Science in Crop Protection from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, where he studied the effects of horizontal and open vertical farming on predatory-prey interactions and the suppression of whiteflies infesting tomatoes. Ever since, he has grown considerably interested in sustainable pest management and chemical ecology, especially in arthropod-plant interactions and in exploiting olfactory cues such as identified herbivore-induced plant volatiles in manipulating pests’ behaviour and also in recruiting the third tropic level.
His research under Dr Sam Cook and Prof Tariq Butt will focus on developing volatile semiochemicals that would serve as repellents, attractants and/or bioinsecticides in the control of establishment pests in oilseed rape, with an overall aim of reducing pesticide usage, improvement of pest management strategy in oilseed rape and also in boosting confidence amongst farmers in the production of the crop.
Current First Years
Bruno Carlos Ramos
Standard studentship with associate partner: In collaboration with Bristol + Swansea
Bruno graduated with Honors from Centro Universitario UNA. During his undergraduate project, Bruno researched fish communities and species distribution on one of the many Amazon river tributaries in Brazil. Building on his experience with freshwater, Bruno completed his MSc from 2021-2023 at the Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto (UFOP), where he researched the effects of the pesticides Acephate and Methamidophos on the behaviour of zebrafish. Currently, Bruno is working with Prof Christos Ioannou, Prof Carlos Garcia De Leaniz, Prof Sofia Consuegra del Olmo and Prof Andrew Dowsey to develop a new AI tool for assessing fish welfare and well-being. This tool will provide a crucial means of alerting to any issues or problems in fish production through behaviour analysis using video recordings.
