Research Interests
I am broadly interested in the connections between disease and biodiversity. My research has focused on how ecological interactions can shape communities of plants and animals, and how linkages between diversity and disease are altered by human activities, such as climate warming. Similarly, I also look at how a diverse community of hosts can affect the dynamics of diseases. I use tools from molecular biology, field ecology, and statistics to address these questions.
Current projects
Dynamics of Babesia microti
Babesia microti is the cause of babesiosis, a malaria-like disease, and an emerging human pathogen. It is likely carried by multiple animal hosts, and transmitted to humans via black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis). We are currently designing a protocol to detect Babesia infection in ticks using quantitative real-time PCR. Ultimately, the goal of this research is to better understand the role that different animal hosts and host diversity play in Babesia transmission.
Effects of tick parasitism on mouse populations
White-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) are significant reservoirs of many tickborne pathogens, and often carry considerable tick burdens. Do larger tick burdens reduce mouse survival? In this project, we are assessing effects of tick burdens on mouse survival and population dynamics using statistical models.
Seedling pathogens and forest dynamics
Plant pathogens are often invoked as an important mechanism for controlling tree seedling growth and survival. These early life stage effects could ultimately serve a critical role in shaping forest community structure and maintaining tree species diversity. For this research, we used culturing and DNA sequencing to characterize the community of fungi associated with dead and dying seedlings from several southeastern US forest tree species. We then developed a Bayesian hierarchical model to examine the impacts of these fungi on seedling survival, both alone and in combination.
