Dr Laura Vickers worked on the distribution and physiology of wild Caiman crocodilius yacare in Brazil as part of her undergraduate degree, before completing a PhD here at the University of Birmingham on the response of aphids to drought. During her PhD, Dr Vickers was awarded a Small Ecological Project Grant from the BES, to investigate the distribution of invertebrates in an underground canal system in an inner city area of the Black Country. The project was successfully covered by the BBC in a series of local television and radio interviews.
After completing her PhD she undertook a postdoc role at Harper Adams University in Shropshire, within the Fresh Produce Research Centre. Her work involved investigating the use of deficit irrigation in lettuce and onion crop systems to save water, and evaluated the impact of this form of irrigation on crop yield, marketability and storability.
Dr Vickers is currently employed as a teaching focused lecturer at the University of Birmingham, delivering first, second and third year undergraduate modules. She is also involved in STEM and wider participation activities having been a registered STEMNET ambassador for the West Midlands since 2009.