Prof Rosie Woodroffe: Badgering – the quest for science-based management of bovine TB

Prof Woodroffe has been studying badgers and bovine tuberculosis (TB) for over four decades, in which time it has risen to become one of the most controversial and high-profile disease management cases in the UK. Over 30,000 cattle are slaughtered from TB each year, and over 130,000 badgers have been culled in the ongoing farmer-led Government-licensed scheme. Prof Woodroffe has been at the forefront of integrating scientific research into TB management policy, and in this talk she will give an authoritative overview of the science of the disease and how this mixes - or not - with policymakers.

Professor Woodroffe is currently a senior research Fellow at the Institute of Zoology at the Zoological Society of London, and is a current member of the Government's Bovine TB Partnership. Her career's work has focused on the intersection of conservation biology, disease ecology, and animal behaviour; with specialties in badgers and African wild dogs. Her pioneering work has seen her awarded the Marsh Award in Ecology (2014) and Conservation Biology (2021), the Cranbrook Lecture (2014), and a place on the BBC Wildlife Power List (2015). From 1998-2007 she was a member of the Independent Scientific Group that oversaw the design and analysis of the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT).

Professor Woodroffe's talk will be followed by a Q&A and Prosecco reception. All are welcome. Please enter Merton via the archway on Rose Lane, not the Lodge on Merton St.