Research

In much of my research (but not all) I explore the relationship between modern agricultural practices and the ecology of infectious diseases affecting a range of domestic and agricultural animal populations.

Marek’s disease virus and industrialized poultry farming

Collaborators: Troy Day, Scott Greenhalgh

Figure 1: Broiler farm model schematic.

Today chickens are raised with tens of thousands of genetically similar birds in crowded barns, with a lifespan as short as six weeks. These changes to animal husbandry have been implicated in the continual increase in virulence of Marek’s disease, a viral disease of poultry.

[1] Rozins, C., Day, T., and Greenhalgh, S. (2019 ). [2] Rozins, C. and Day, T. (2017). Evol Appl. [3] Rozins, C. and Day, T. (2016). J. Math. Biol.

Controlling bovine tuberculosis when there is a wildlife reservoir.

Collaborators: Matthew Silk, Mike Boots, Darren P. Croft, Richard J. Delahay, Dave Hodgson, Robbie A. McDonald, Nicola Weber

a) Badger network, b) European badger

Bovine tuberculosis, bTB, while rare in most developed nations, continues to be a major animal and human health issue in the UK. Control of bTB in the UK is made difficult due to a wildlife reservoir of European badgers.

[1] Rozins*, C., Silk* et al. (2018). Ecol. Evol. [2] Silk, Matthew J., et al. (2019). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 

*joint first author

The disease consequences of honeybee apiculture intensification.

Collaborators: Mike Boots, Lewis Bartlette, Lena Wilfert, Keith Delaplane, Berry Brosi and Jaap De Roode

Honeybee health and the apicultural industry is under threat from a variety of pressures including disease burden caused by parasites and pathogens. We study how modern agricultural intensification and novel agricultural practices impact the emergence and epidemiology of infectious disease in bees.

[1] Rozins*, C., Bartlett*, L. J. et al. (2019). Journal of Applied Ecology.

*joint first author

Frequency and Density Effects

Collaborators: Janis Antonovics, Michael Hood

• Hexagonal fan designs can include a range of both densities and frequencies in a single plot, providing large economies in space and material for studying local interactions such as competition and disease transmission. 

Rozins, Carly, et al. “Exploring density‐and frequency‐dependent interactions experimentally: An r program for generating hexagonal fan designs.” Methods in Ecology and Evolution 11.5 (2020): 678-683.