Dr Matt Lloyd Jones is an Associate Research Fellow at the University of Exeter interested evidence-based approaches to public health, microbiology, and ecology, with a particular specialism in evidence synthesis.
Matt’s evidence synthesis work has included rapid syntheses for the Environment Agency and Climate Change Committee, as well as systematic reviews. His systematic review work includes systematic reviews of recreational exposure to polluted water and infection; antibiotic administration and antibiotic resistance in beef cattle production; and pollinators in tropical smallholder farms. Matt prides himself in pairing rigourous implementation of systematic review methodologies with equally rigorous implementation of meta-analytical methodologies. The latter is reflective of his wider interest in statistics and programming more generally, having also been involved with the design, implementation, and analysis of several primary studies in microbial ecology and public health during his PhD and postdoctoral years.
Matt is also interested in coproduction elements of evidence-based practice, particularly around digital solutions for human and animal health. He previously led an interdisciplinary project working with farmers to develop a video game to support educating and engagement around the antibiotic stewardship and animal welfare issue of sheep lameness. He is now working with Surfers Against Sewage on a study to understand how the public respond to public health-style warnings about recreational water quality in their Safer Seas and Rivers Service app, and improve the app accordingly.
Matt is a keen advocate for open research practices, and is currently Open Research Champion for the Department of Public Health & Sports Sciences (alongside Callum O’Malley) at the University of Exeter. As well as applying open research practices in his own work, Matt also delivers training on preprints, preregistration, and open and reproducible code and data (having been trained through the UK Reproducibility Network’s Train the Trainer programme). He is on the organising committee of the Evidence Synthesis Hackathon, an organisation which supports the development of open-source software to support evidence synthesis through hackathons and other initiatives.