Broadly, my research has focused on understanding the dynamics of infectious diseases, particularly the transmission component. My dissertation work explored the role of individual variation in movement for dispersal of seeds and I would like to focus now on the role that these 'extreme' individual movements have in rare transmission events, probably leading to outbreaks. I love being able to mix in ecology, and my personal favorite: metacommunity theory.
Guided by a One Health perspective, I seek to uncover the ecological, evolutionary, and social drivers of disease transmission and emergence. My work integrates tools from biostatistics, decision science, and computational modeling to tackle pressing questions: How do environmental changes influence pathogen dynamics? What strategies best mitigate zoonotic spillover? How can we design effective interventions that balance ecological conservation and public health? And truly incorporate the social component to make sure our science makes it to the hands of decision makers. Also guided by the 'less is more' or 'let's make the most of it' concepts - when resources are limited, how can we make the most out of them?Â
Statistical and mathematical modeling
I try to understand ecological processes through the use of simulations, mathematics, and statistical models. I am particularly interested in understanding the effects of variation and rare dispersal events on community assemblage.
Animal movement
It's just fascinating to me, how and why and where do they go? But specifically, I would like to know how the odd one out moves further than the rest and the ecological implications of that movement. Using databases, existing data, and simulations, I explore how individual variation in movement can have a signal for rare events.
Disease ecology and metacommunity theory
For a few years now I have been exploring the parallels between metacommunity ecology and disease ecology, to understand pathogen communities and multi-host diseases. I have garnered a lot of experience with metacommunity theory, and I'm slowly making my way into linking this back to diseases, particularly avian malaria.
Decision Science
I am committed to bridging our research findings with real-world applications, and I think decision science is a powerful tool to accomplish this, particularly expert elicitations. With my initial experience with White Nose Syndrome and my decision science training, I am interested in developing frameworks and workflows that will help this connection and allow researchers to do science while also considering the decisions surrounding them.
