Dr Kyle Ewart on developing adaptable wildlife diagnostic tools to address One Health challenges

Kyle will be presenting his research at the OHGE Community Meeting in June 2026.

Please tell us about your research project, research interests and how your work involves genomics or makes use of genomic technologies

My research project involves developing wildlife diagnostic tools using nanopore DNA sequencing. Wildlife diagnostic data can help to address a range of challenges, including monitoring wildlife trade, tracking disease spread, and mitigating zoonotic risks. A key limitation in applying wildlife diagnostics is the diversity of wildlife species and pathogen targets, and the wide range of questions that diagnostics could potentially address. I am developing flexible, adaptable genomic tools that can be applied across species and diagnostic scenarios. My current work uses red squirrels and squirrelpox as a case study, with the aim of extending these workflows to other wildlife hosts and their pathogens. 

Please summarise your previous work and career so far

My background is in evolutionary biology, population genetics, and forensic science. After my undergraduate studies in Animal and Veterinary Bioscience, I completed an Honours project in wildlife forensics, developing DNA tests to identify rhinoceros horns. My PhD and subsequent work have primarily focused on applying genetic techniques to address wildlife conservation issues more broadly. This work has included conservation genetic studies on Australian birds, mammals, and insects, as well as the development of forensic and diagnostic tools for species such as tigers, lions, pangolins, elephants, and black rhino.

What inspired you to follow your career path?

My interest in wildlife was probably first sparked by a combination of David Attenborough documentaries and exploring my backyard (which backed onto the bush) in Sydney, Australia. And as with many things, the more a learned about wildlife and their fascinating evolutionary histories, the more my interest and passion grew. I initially wanted to become a wildlife vet, but during my undergraduate studies I attended a lecture on wildlife forensics - this immediately piqued my interest, and showed me that genetics research isn’t just interesting, but can also be applied to address some important real-world problems.

If you could have tea with anyone (alive or dead), who would it be? What would you talk about?

It would have to be Charles Darwin. His work was an absolute game changer in how we think about the natural world and life in general. I’d love to chat to him about how he developed his ideas to get a sense of how his mind worked, as well as update him on where evolutionary biology is now (in an attempt to impress him). I don’t know what Darwin was like as a person, so I’d probably invite a mate along as well as well to keep the atmosphere light (and to take the photo!).

What is the most unusual thing you have done during your career?

I’ve worked on a number of unusual wildlife seizure cases, and have tested items such as tiger penis, pangolin feet, and horse hoof moulded into the shape of a rhinoceros horn.

Do you have any advice for people wanting to pursue a research career? What do you like best about your job? What do you like the least?

My main advice would be to pursue research that genuinely interests you and that you care about. Science can be brutal when experiments or ideas don’t work out, and that would be much harder to cop if you’re not truly or interested in trying again!
What I love most about my job is the variety — working across multiple projects and being able to explore new ideas and research avenues keeps things exciting. Producing results that no one else has seen is also a real thrill!
The tenuous career path and relatively short-term contracts is a bit of a downer, but I’ll take this with all of the positives this career offers.

How do you spend your time outside of research? Is there anything else you would like to tell us about?

Most of my time outside of research is currently spent looking after a toddler and baby (1 month old at the time of writing this!). It’s quite a juggle, but I love it!
I‘ve also loved playing and watching football since I was young. My joints aren’t as agile as they used to be, but I still love having a kick around. And a massive bonus of moving from Sydney to Edinburgh is being able to watch football (EPL) at a reasonably hour!

 

Links

Dr Kyle Ewart LinkedIn Page (external link)

The Roslin Institute