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Why do individuals
vary in how they respond to pathogens and parasites?
Disease Ecology
Social cues of infection
Parental Effects
As a disease ecologist, I am interested in interactions between hosts, pathogens and the environment. Specifically, I want to understand why individuals vary in how they respond to infection.
Infection can have long-lasting effects on host physiology and behavior. Social cues from sick individuals can be detected by other animals, and in turn shape the behavior and physiology of healthy individuals, with important implications for disease dynamics.
Parental effects are non-genomic contributions from parents that shape offspring traits. I am interested in exploring how stressors in the parental environment (disease, predation risk, etc.) shape offspring physiology, behavior, and disease susceptibility.
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