Dr David Ewing

I am a statistician and mathematical modeller at BioSS working predominantly in animal health and welfare. I received my Masters in statistics at the University of St Andrews before moving to the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology to complete a PhD developing a mathematical modelling framework to predict the risk of establishment of West Nile virus in the UK under current and future climate scenarios. After my PhD I joined NatureScot as a statistician, providing statistical support and analyses for projects principally in ecology. I joined BioSS in 2018 where my role is split between the provision of statistical consultancy and support to colleagues at the Moredun Research Institute and the development of mathematical and statistical modelling approaches to tackle problems in animal health and welfare.

My recent work has involved the development of exact Bayesian inference approaches to infer epidemiological parameters from outbreak mortality data, with application to African swine fever outbreaks on pig farms and avian influenza in wild birds. I am also interested in the application of stage-structured mathematical models in animal health, ecology and epidemiology and am currently working on a number of such projects, including the development of a whole-farm model to test the effects of novel interventions on gastro-intestinal nematode infections on sheep farms. Within EPIC my current work centres around the application of mathematical modelling to predict the risk of bluetongue spread.