COVID-19 brought an immediate end to the on-farm fieldwork for the social science cluster. The team’s discussions around biosecurity and disease modelling now extends to their own lives, and not just those of the farmers and the animals they would speak to on fieldwork visits. Here, social scientist Lewis Holloway discusses how the biosecurity measures imposed as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown have shifted thinking on the project’s research topic.

The Covid-19 crisis has resulted in significant changes to the way most of us work and live. The unprecedent uncertainty and the lockdown enforced isolation have also created challenges for maintaining normal work routines and social wellbeing. PhD researchers Maria and Nicole talk through how being part of a larger research project has helped to counteract this.