People

Wendy C. Turner, Ph.D.
Research Biologist, U.S. Geological Survey
Unit Leader, Wisconsin Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit
Research Professor, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Google Scholar profile
Researchgate profile

Current Research Group Members

Alison Ketz, Ph.D.
Scientist II, UW-Madison
Alison is an ecological statistician and quantitative ecologist researching in the domain of wildlife population ecology and disease ecology. A core component of her work is at the interface of statistics and ecology; she addresses methodological and computational problems that arise during analysis of ecological data. She is currently working to determine the population impacts of chronic wasting disease on white-tailed deer in south central Wisconsin. This involves extensive development of continuous time-to-event survival and disease transmission models, as well as development of a spatio-temporal integrated population model.
Website: https://alisonketz.github.io
Marie Gilbertson, Ph.D., D.V.M.
Scientist I, UW-Madison
Marie is interested in identifying the underlying drivers of transmission in free-ranging wildlife. During her PhD, Marie studied transmission dynamics of retroviruses in the endangered Florida panther. Her work is highly interdisciplinary, drawing from bioinformatics, movement ecology, disease ecology, and veterinary medicine, and she has extensive experience in network and computational modeling. As a postdoc in the Turner lab, Marie is studying deer movement ecology and chronic wasting disease transmission. 
Website: https://marieljgilbertson.weebly.com/

Heather N’te Inzalaco, Ph.D. 
Postdoctoral Scientist, UW-Madison

Heather is interested in wildlife conservation and disease ecology as it pertains to the surveillance and management of infectious diseases with zoonotic potential. More specifically, she is keen on how behavior, land-use change, and environmental and climate variables influence the interactions between hosts and pathogens and drive disease transmission. She is studying how host behaviors influence environmental contamination and indirect transmission events of chronic wasting disease. She combines camera trap data for behavioral analysis and field sampling with biochemical and molecular biology techniques to evaluate the relative magnitude of chronic wasting disease prions in mechanical vectors and environmental reservoirs for indirect transmission.

John Draper, Ph.D. 
Postdoctoral Scientist, UW-Madison, based at University of Montana, working with Dan Walsh

John is leveraging historical information maintained by state agencies to evaluate impacts of CWD management activities on white-tailed deer population and disease dynamics, and to establish a framework that will improve coordination and information exchange.

 

Amélie Dolfi Amélie Dolfi, M.S.
Ph.D. candidate, UW-Madison Wildlife Ecology program
Amelie is interested in building models of epidemiology and population dynamics. Her work will focus on the interaction of Bacillus anthracis with its herbivorous hosts in two ecosystems varying in anthrax dynamic, Etosha National Park, Namibia and Kruger National Park, South Africa.
Kimberlie Vera
Ph.D. candidate, UW-Madison Wildlife Ecology program
Kimberlie is interested in using quantitative ecology methods to investigate how Bacillus anthracis interacts with its herbivorous hosts in two different ecosystems with varying anthrax outbreak dynamics, Etosha National Park, Namibia and Kruger National Park, South Africa.
Sunday Ochai, D.V.M., M.S.
Ph.D. candidate, Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, University of Pretoria, co-advised with Dr. Henriette Van Heerden
Sunday’s interests revolve around understanding the immunological subtleties to anthrax exposure in Kruger and Etosha National Parks. His PhD research will focus on understanding how other closely related Bacillus species and biovars complicate serological diagnosis of B. anthracis. Second, to look at the impact of haemoparasites on the ability of the animals to mount an effective immune response. Lastly, he will also look at the impact of climate change, movement and landscape utilization on the susceptibility of host species to anthrax.
Nurul Islam, D.V.M., M.S.
Ph.D. student, UW-Madison Wildlife Ecology program
Nurul is interested in investigating white-tailed deer behaviors relevant to the transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD). His work will be focused on video data of deer behaviors, including video camera traps that monitor deer behavior at potential environmental reservoirs and GPS collars fitted with video cameras that monitor deer behaviors and contacts on the landscape.
Stephanie Katircioglu 
M.S. student, UW-Madison Wildlife Ecology program
Steph is interested in the ecology, evolution, and management of emerging infectious diseases of wildlife. Specifically, she’s interested in understanding how hosts persist with infectious diseases in an endemic state by comprehending the mechanisms that underpin immune tolerance and host defense system. She’s also interested in exploring factors that lead to pathogen transmission within and among species and the potential repercussions for disease spillover to human populations. Her research will focus on using molecular and biochemical techniques to understand the role environmental transmission plays in the infectivity potential of chronic wasting disease prions in a heterogeneous landscape and persistence of prions within that landscape
Aaron Groves 
M.S. student, UW-Madison Wildlife Ecology program
Aaron is developing a project on coyote and bobcat movement ecology, predation/scavenging of white-tailed deer, and effects on chronic wasting disease spread.

Lab Alumni

Zoe Barandongo

Zoe Barandongo, M.S. (Ph.D., UW-Madison Wildlife Ecology, UW-Madison, 2023)

After our group: Postdoctoral Research Associate with Pauline Kamath at University of Maine

Dissertation: Anthrax in African wildlife: Bacillus anthracis spore survival, bacteriophages and genetic diversity in southern Africa

Heather N’te Inzalaco, M.S. (Ph.D., Comparative Biomedical Sciences, UW-Madison, 2023)

Dissertation: Soil, scat, and (Ixodes) scapularis: Assessing environmental factors in the chronic wasting disease system

Samantha Hoff

Samantha Hoff, M.S. (Ph.D., EEB UAlbany, 2023)

After our group: Postdoctoral Research Associate with Joseph Hoyt at Virginia Tech

Dissertation: Refugia from white-nose syndrome: ecology and behavior of northern myotis coastal populations.

Casey Pendergast (M.S. EEB, UAlbany, 2023)

After our group: Wildlife Technician, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

Thesis: Hibernation behavior and winter feeding of northern myotis in coastal populations after white-nose syndrome invasion

Matt Hunsaker

Matthew Hunsaker (M.S. Wildlife Ecology, UW-Madison, 2023)

After our group: Research Scientist with Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau at Southern Illinois University

Thesis: Movement ecology of male white-tailed deer during the breeding season in southwest Wisconsin

Kamini Govender (M.Sc. University of Pretoria, 2022)
co-advised with Henriette van Heerden

After her MSc: research intern with NICD, South Africa

Thesis: Investigation of Bacillus anthracis spore survival in soils from Kruger National Park in South Africa and Etosha National Park in Namibia

Prudent Mokgokong (M.Sc. University of Pretoria, 2022)
co-advised with Henriette van Heerden

After her MSc: research intern, North West University, South Africa

Thesis: Comparative genomics of Bacillus anthracis strains from anthrax outbreaks in Kruger National Park, South Africa

Kristyna “Isty” Rysava, Ph.D. (UW-Madison postdoc 2021-2022)
After our group: Steven M. Teutsch Prevention Effectiveness Fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
 yen-hua

Yen-Hua Huang, D.V.M., (Ph.D., UW-Madison, 2022)
After our group: Postdoctoral Research Associate with Vanessa Ezenwa at Yale University

Dissertation: Effects of environmental fluctuations and herbivore ecology on anthrax dynamics in southern Africa

Website: https://www.yenhuahuang.org/

 

Ellen Brandell, Ph.D. (UW-Madison postdoc 2020-2022)

After our group: Wildlife Research Scientist at Colorado Parks and Wildlife 

Hendrina Joel, (MSc, University of Namibia, 2020)

After our group: Ph.D. student at University of Namibia

Thesis: Effects of elephant carcasses on vegetation cover, herbivore behaviour, and potential anthrax transmission in central Etosha National Park.

 

Spencer Bruce, Ph.D. (UAlbany postdoc 2018-2020)
After our group: postdoc with Cheryl Andam at UAlbany

Where is he now? Research Technology Manager at UAlbany

Website: https://www.spencerbruce.org/

Naima Starkloff Naima Starkloff (UAlbany Ph.D., 2020)
After our group: Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology, Davidson College

 

Where is she now? Postdoc with David Civitello at Emory University

Dissertation: Haemoparasite infection and immunogenetic diversity in a clade of North America songbirds

Website: https://nstarkloff.wixsite.com/nstar

Celeste Champagne
Undergraduate student, B.S. Biology at UAlbany, 2019
Shontae Duke
Undergraduate student, B.S. Biology at UAlbany, 2019
Tia Westcott
Undergraduate student, B.S. Biology at UAlbany, 2019
Rachel Billig
Undergraduate student, B.S. Biology at UAlbany, 2019
zoe

Zoe Barandongo, MSc (2015, University of Namibia)

Where is she now? PhD candidate at UW Madison

Thesis: Dust bathing behaviours of elephants, zebras and wildebeest and the potential risk of inhalational anthrax in Etosha National Park

zeppe

Zepee Havarua, MSc (2011, University of Namibia)

Where is he now? Acting Deputy Director, Directorate of Extension of Agricultural Production and Engineering Services, Kavango West, Kavango East, Zambezi and Otjozondjupa Regions, Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, Namibia AND PhD student, University of Namibia

Thesis: Seasonal foraging behaviour of the plains zebra and the African elephant in relation to the occurrence of anthrax in Etosha National Park.

peace Peace Imologhome, MSc (2011, University of Namibia)

Thesis: The relationships among nutrition, soil ingestion and anthrax occurrence in zebra and springbok in Etosha National Park, Namibia.
Raymond Lopez
Undergraduate student, majoring in Biology at UAlbany

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