Suzannah Williams

Ovary Biologist

I was first inspired about the application of reproductive technology for conservation at the University of Aberdeen when one of my lecturers said that we could double the population of panda’s (which were critically endangered at the time) by stimulating multiple ovulations and then transferring embryos to surrogate black bears. This concept blew my mind. Obviously, the panda’s population was restored, not by this, but by an intensive breeding programme.

However, my passion to use reproductive biology for conservation was thus embedded. I then carved a career across the globe learning more about how the ovary functioned in multiple species. Coming back to the UK, I founded the Rhino Fertility Project at the University of Oxford with the aim of using reproductive technologies to save the critically endangered Northern White Rhino and other rhino species.