SRUC

Hi I'm
Dr Geoff Foster

  • Position: Functional Manager Microbiology
  • Location: Highlands and Islands
  • Expertise:
    • Livestock and Fishing
    • Climate, Environment and Wildlife

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I am an experienced microbiologist working in the veterinary field with a committed One Health outlook. I'm primarily based in Inverness. I have extensive experience of microbiology of farm, companion, zoo and wildlife animals as well as their interactions with humans and other animal species.

My broad background includes working/training in other fields including public health, food and plant microbiology. Since 2011, I have managed the Zoonoses and Antimicrobial Resistance activity of the Scottish Government’s Veterinary and Advisory Service Programme.

I sit on several Scottish and UK committees on zoonoses and antimicrobial resistance and I am a sitting member of the International Sub-Committee for the Taxonomy of Brucella. I am also curator of an extensive culture bank of field isolates from animals collected over the last 30+ years.

One of my top priorities is extensive collaboration with microbiologists and vets from the UK, Europe and North America. I have published over 130 peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals and textbook contributions and I have given numerous presentations at national and international meetings.

Areas of expertise and interests

  • Livestock and Fishing
  • Climate, Environment and Wildlife

I'm currently working on

  • management of the Scottish Government Veterinary Advisory Services Programme on Zoonoses and Antimicrobial Resistance
  • ongoing surveillance of antibiotic resistance in healthy Scottish livestock presenting at abattoirs – ongoing since 2017
  • provision of annual antimicrobial resistance data to Scottish and UK annual veterinary antimicrobial surveillance reports
  • Klebsiella and Raoultella in animals
  • validation of novel bacteria from animals

My professional highlights

  • Member of the Scottish One Health Antimicrobial Use and Antimicrobial Resistance (SONAAR) Oversight and Advisory Group
  • Member of the Defra Antimicrobial Resistance Committee, the Scottish Gastro-intestinal and Zoonoses Group and the Scottish Public Health Microbiology Group
  • Meeting Secretary for the Scottish Microbiology Association
  • Editorial Advisor to Journal of Comparative Pathology

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