Dr Ruth Kirk

Biography

My fascination with aquatic parasites began during my BSc in Biological Sciences at Westfield College, University of London. Working with the Public Health Engineering Group at Imperial College, London further stimulated my interest in aquatic science, followed by a PhD studentship on Sanguinicola inermis, a blood fluke parasite of carp, at Royal Holloway, University of London in collaboration with Thames Water. I established and managed a Fish Parasitology and Pathology Consultancy at Royal Holloway and also worked as a lecturer at Middlesex University, London. I then worked on Anguillicoloides crassus, a pathogenic swim bladder nematode parasite of European eels, during a Leverhulme Trust Research Postdoctoral Fellowship at Exeter University and Royal Holloway. I managed my own aquatic consultancy company, Crucian UK, for several years but then returned to university life. I am currently an associate professor in parasitology at Kingston University focussing on aquatic parasites and vectors.

Research Interest

  Molecular and morphological identification of parasites and vectors, Cercarial dermatitis, Schistosomiasis