Members
Principal Investigator
Project Scientists
Postdoctoral Researchers
Ecology / Population dynamics / Disease dynamics / Biological pest control / Metabolic theory
Graduate Students
I am currently interested in herpetology with a focus on the phylogeography and impact of fire on the effective population sizes of a lizard with a sky island distribution in Southern California, the effect of wetland habitat restoration on a population of a threatened frog species in a California coastal dune complex, and the disease ecology of a California newt species and a yet to be identified pathogen that causes abnormal skin lesions.
Tatum Katz is a 5th year PhD candidate. She studies vectors and reservoirs of the amphibian-killing pathogen Bd, specifically by using field data to parameterize and ground-truth a variety of statistical and mathematical models which investigate how these alternative sources affect amphibian population dynamics. She also recently earned her M.A. in statistics here at UCSB, and is excited by all types of statistical analyses, especially machine learning
I am broadly interested in disease transmission dynamics, specifically how host community composition alters the prevalence of tick-borne pathogens. Previous research of mine has investigated the host-vector-pathogen interface by examining the effect of larval host blood meal identity on tick nymphal vector competency to Borrelia burgdorferi.
I am interested in how the genetics of host-pathogen interactions drive disease dynamics in wildlife populations, and how this can be used to inform species conservation and disease management plans. I am currently studying the genetic determinants of host susceptibility and pathogen virulence in the amphibian-chytridiomycosis system across various frog populations in California.
@imanidrussell
Interested in using empirical & theoretical frameworks to understand the ecology and evolution of vector-borne diseases in a changing climate.
Undergraduates
| Name |
|---|
| Rebecca Abel |
| Nuzha Baksh |
| Elizabeth Bodenhamer |
| Sarah Boyle |
| Alyssa Byer |
| Spencer Chau |
| Elise Cypher |
| Josephine Graeber |
| Meryem Guler |
| Leanne Hagen |
| Hope Hahn |
| Kathryn Koo |
| Rachel Leowy |
| Iona McCabe |
| Yanelyn Perez |
| Max Roberts |
| Navdeep Sandhu |
| Kenda Scruggs |
| Karen Sidhu |
| Bethany Stainfield |
| Chloe Swain |
| Natalie Ventura |
| Sammi Yeung |
| Melinda Zemberi |
Alumni
| Name | Current Affiliation |
Years in Lab |
|---|---|---|
| Mary Toothman | ||
| Lara Rachowicz | Independent Research Professional | 2005 |
| Matthew Daugherty | UC Riverside | 2006 |
| Mary Stice-Kishiyama | Doctor of Veterinary Medicine | 2009 |
| Andrea Jani | University of Hawaii | 2010-2014 |
| Andrea Adams | UC Santa Barbara | 2010-2017 |
| Thomas Smith | UC Santa Barbara | 2011-2015 |
| Tate Tunstall | University of Maryland | 2012 |
| Andrew MacDonald | Stanford | 2012-2016 |
| Mark Wilber | Colorado State University | 2012-2017 |
| Emily Wilson | UC Santa Barbara | 2012-2017 |
| Name | Current Affiliation |
Years in Lab |
|---|---|---|
| Martha Hoopes | Professor at Mount Holyoke College | 1999-2004 |
| Elizabeth Borer | Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota | 2002-2003 |
| Perry de Valpine | Associate Professor at UC Berkeley | 2002-2004 |
| Vance Vredenburg | Associate Professor at San Francisco State University | 2003-2007 |
| Andrea Swei | San Francisco State University | 2009-2011 |
| Leah Johnson | Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech | 2009-2011 |
| Brian Drawert | Assistant Professor at University of North Carolina Asheville | 2017 |
| Joe Mihaljevic | Assistant Professor, Northern Arizona University | 2017-2018 |
| Graziella DiRenzo | MA Cooperative Research Unit | 2017-2019 |