Jacob Glover, a student at Franklin College, worked in the lab of Dr. Ash Pathak Abstract Anopheles Stephensi are a dangerous vector for countless diseases without cures currently. If mosquitos could be contained or controlled, then this could eliminate these diseases they carry without having to find a vaccine or other types of cures for
Gowri Vadmal, a student at Stanford University, worked in the lab of Dr. Pej Rohani Abstract Pertussis was considered one of the great diseases of childhood with most people experiencing a bout of the infection by the age of 15. The initial roll out of vaccines in the 1950s led to a marked decline in
Annika Cleven, a student at St. Olaf College, worked in the lab of Dr. Andreas Handel Abstract Using data that was collected from a university health center where patients and clinicians were asked to report the presence of a list of respiratory-related symptoms, we analyzed the need for patient based Clinical Prediction Rules (CPRs). We
Helen Gloege, a student in Mount Holyoke College, worked in the lab of Dr. Andy Davis Abstract Daphnia and other animals face a multitude of different stressors in their daily lives. Parasites can cause various physiological changes in animals, yet few prior studies have looked at the combination of parasitism and stress in animal models.
Madeline Sheppard, a student at Eckerd College, worked in the lab of Dr. Kelly Dyer Abstract Wolbachia is a bacteria that is found in up to 60% of all insects, which is transmitted exclusively from mother to offspring through the egg. In many host species Wolbachia infection does not Wolbachia are gram-negative maternally transmitted bacterial
Jenavier Tejada, a student at Denison University, worked in the lab of Dr. Alex Strauss Abstract The dilution effect seeks to explain disease transmission in environments with multiple species. Essentially, the dilution effect predicts an increase in diversity will lead to a decrease in disease transmission. In zooplankton communities, the resistant diluter, Ceriodaphnia dubia can
Emily Landolt, a student in St. Norbert College, worked in the lab of Dr. Alex Strauss Abstract Freshwater zooplankton, such as Daphnia dentifera, are helpful model organisms for studying infectious disease dynamics and are ecologically important because of their role in food webs. They are consumers of primary producers like algae and are prey for
Annalise Cramer, a student at Westfield State University, worked in the lab of Dr. Richard Hall Abstract Deforestation alters landscape configuration resulting in novel contacts between host species, which can promote pathogen spillover from wildlife to domesticated animals and humans. Given heightened awareness of zoonotic spillover, studies are urgently needed to understand how the rate
Jonah Giermann, a student at College of St. Scholastica, worked in the lab of Dr. Sonia Altizer Abstract Disease surveillance of wild populations is difficult, as capture and release techniques can be time-iRoadkill is an excellent display of human-wildlife conflict. Carcasses can inform ecologists about population trends, species distribution, and behavior. Carcasses can be inspected
Sofia Markiewicz, a student at Scripps College, worked in the lab of Dr. Jeb Byers Abstract Oysters are a key coastal foundation species that have declined drastically across the US coasts due to the combined effects of overharvesting, pollution, and disease. With climate change, there The eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) is a keystone species and
Sierra Felty, a student at Radford University, worked in the lab of Dr. Christopher Cleveland Abstract Coyotes (Canis latrans) are an anthropogenically abundant and increasingly widespread species, Members of the genus Echinococcus are parasitic cestodes that pose a zoonotic threat to wildlife, livestock, domestic animals, and humans. They utilize wild canids, such as coyotes and foxes,
Samantha O’Keefe, a student at Jacksonville University, worked in the lab of Dr. Sonia Altizer Abstract Climate change is rapidly impacting our planet and its ecosystems at immense scales, and many of the future impacts are unknown. One consequence of climate change seen in nearly every ecosystem type is loss of biodiversity, including parasitic organisms.
Sarah Blankespoor, a student at California Polytechnic University, worked in the lab of Dr. Mark Tompkins Abstract Little is known about the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in animal populations. Cats are a host for the virus, with cat-to-cat transmission demonstrated in lab settings. Both feral and owned cats interact with many species and could drive interspecies
