Shelly Butcher

Shelly Butcher is a PhD candidate at the University of Queensland, with supervisors Dr Laura Grogan, Dr Celine Frere and Dr Viviana Gonzalez-Astudillo. Her PhD project is investigating fungal infections in free-ranging Australian reptiles. Shelly is interested in understanding how fungal pathogens impact reptile health, biodiversity and conservation, with a particular emphasis on the disease ecology of these pathogens within wild Australian squamates.

Shelly completed a Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Adelaide. Her clinical research project investigated koala dental disease in free-ranging koalas. She then worked as a mixed practice veterinarian in far north Queensland before pursuing further studies in New Zealand. In NZ, she completed a Master of Veterinary Studies in conservation veterinary medicine at Massey University. Her master’s thesis focused on pathogen prevalence and diversity in native and invasive free-ranging NZ lizards. Shelly then worked as a clinical wildlife veterinarian in southeast Queensland before starting her PhD. 

Publications

• Waller, S. J., Butcher, R.G., Lim, L., McInnes, K., Holmes, E.C., & Geoghegan, J.L. (2024). The radiation of New Zealand’s skinks and geckos is associated with distinct viromes. BMC Ecology and Evolution, 24(1), 81. DOI: 10.1186/s12862-024-02269-4
• Butcher, R.G., Lenting, B., Clarke, A.S., Buckle, K., & Gans, C. (2023). Jejunal intramural haematoma in a captive African lion (Panthera leo). Veterinary Record Case Reports, 11(1), e556. DOI: 10.1002/vrc2.556
• Butcher, R.G., Jolly, M., Dittmer, K.E. & Hunter, S. (2022). Telangiectatic osteosarcoma of the tibiotarsus in a North Island brown kiwi (Apteryx mantelli). Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 58(4), 947-950. DOI: 10.7589/jwd-d-22-00022
• Butcher, R.G. & Jolly, M. (2021). Extraarticular stabilisation using a nylon prosthesis for a femorotibial luxation in a Luzon bleeding-heart dove (Gallicolumba luzonica). Kokako, 28(1), 4-6
• Roman L., Butcher R.G., Stewart D., Hunter S., Jolly M., Kowalski P., Hardesty BD. & Lenting B. (2020). Plastic ingestion is an underestimated cause of death for southern hemisphere albatrosses. Conservation Letters, e12785. DOI: 10.1111/conl.12785
• Butcher R.G., Pettett L.M., Fabijan J.H., Ebrahimie E., Mohammadi-Dehcheshmeh M., Speight K.N., Boardman W.S., Bird P.S. & Trott D.J., (2020). Periodontal disease in free-ranging koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) from the Mount Lofty Ranges, South Australia and its association with koala retrovirus infection. The Australian Veterinary Journal, 98(5), 200-206. DOI: 10.1111/avj.12919