Ashleigh MacDonald (she/her)

Ashleigh was a DPhil student on the Interdisciplinary Bioscience Doctoral Training Centre programme. Her project also had the James Hutton Institute as an academic partner. Ashleigh graduated with BSc (Hons) Food Bioscience from Glasgow Caledonian University in 2017, after which she spent a year working in the food industry as a quality assurance technician. Ashleigh’s research project was focussed on identifying the specific antimicrobial activity of in-pack ozone treatment, which was developed by Anacail Ltd (now in administration) as an intervention treatment for the food industry. The treatment involves the generation of ozone gas within a sealed food pack, which subsequently kills a wide range of micro-organisms present on the surface of produce, by subjecting them to oxidative stress. Some bacteria may however survive the treatment if they are located in sites which are inaccessible to ozone or if they are able to enter into a reduced state of viability. Ashleigh’s project aimed to identify the impact of O3 treatment on the bacterial physiology of selected food-borne and plant pathogens.

Outside of the lab Ashleigh enjoys long walks, occasional running and attending fitness classes.