Ángela Loring
Qualifications
Degree in Veterinary Science 2012
Internship in Wildlife Population Health 2022
MSc Terrestrial Ecology and Biodiversity Management 2023
Current Position
PhD Candidate
Overview
I am a PhD candidate at WildCoM since 2026, supervised by Dr Oscar Cabezón, Dr Albert Perlas and Dr Maria Puig. My research focuses on avian influenza surveillance at the wildlife-environment interface in Catalonia, combining wild mammal surveillance with passive environmental sampling in wetlands. Through serology, molecular detection, sequencing, and eDNA-based host inference, I aim to improve understanding of avian influenza dynamics in wildlife and support earlier and more effective surveillance strategies.
Background
I obtained my Degree in Veterinary Medicine in Madrid in 2012. Early in my career, I gained experience in marine animal medicine through an internship at the Oceanogràfic of Valencia. Soon after, I spent two years working in different wildlife-related institutions and projects, including rescue centers, universities, and private initiatives in Costa Rica, Panama, and Mexico. Afterwards, I returned to Spain, where I worked for four years in small animal clinics and hospitals in Madrid. These experiences allowed me to develop practical skills in clinical medicine, pathology, fieldwork, laboratory procedures, and applied research, while also strengthening my multidisciplinary perspective and adaptability.
In 2021–2022, I undertook the Internship in Wildlife Population Health at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), under the supervision of Dr Oscar Cabezón, Diplomate of the European College of Zoological Medicine (ECZM). During that year, in addition to collaborating in several research activities within the WildCoM research group, I focused my work on Border Disease Virus in European mouflon and its epidemiological role in the Pyrenees. This stage allowed me to develop a more critical and research-oriented perspective while gaining further experience in wildlife conservation medicine, fieldwork, and laboratory techniques, including serology, molecular diagnostics, and sample processing.
I later completed the MSc in Terrestrial Ecology and Biodiversity Management at UAB. My Master’s thesis was carried out in collaboration with the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) and focused on the investigation of the mass mortality event of Alca torda in the Mediterranean during the winter of 2022/2023, work that has recently been published. During this period, I also collaborated with the University of Girona (UdG, Animal Biology Group), contributing to necropsies, biological sampling, laboratory analyses, and data interpretation related to this mortality event, as well as to the development of the species’ conservation plan in Catalonia.
From 2024 to 2026, I worked as a veterinarian at the CRAM Foundation in Barcelona, where I further developed my skills in marine wildlife medicine and rehabilitation, pathology and sample collection, satellite tagging, rescue and stranding response, and participation in breeding and research projects on the physiology, ethology, and medicine of sea turtles. I also contributed to courses and training activities on marine wildlife medicine. My work mainly involved sea turtles, cetaceans, seabirds, and elasmobranchs.
I currently contribute to several research and conservation projects within the WildCoM research group while undertaking my PhD at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, where I focus on avian influenza surveillance in wild mammals and environmental samples.
