Archives for December 2014

We are interested in the ecological, evolutionary, and epidemiological study of vector-borne diseases in North America with a focus on pathogens expanding their ranges in Texas due to climate change. Currently we are studying multiple sand-fly and rodent pathogens with a focus on leishmaniasis. We are also studying the expansion of Plague, Yersinia pestis, in the state.

Our project has extensive field-work, epidemiological surveying, and computational modeling components. We interview humans who have experienced a leishmaniasis infection and then sample rodents and arthropods via field surveys to inform ecological and evolutionary models.

Our immediate needs are for students to help us with the epidemiological interviews, rodent and insect trapping in the field, insect identification, pathogen screening of specimens, and GIS modeling. Student volunteers will gain experience in a variety of areas, including rodent trapping, handling, and specimen sampling; sand-fly trapping, identification, and pathogen screening; GIS and species distribution modeling; epidemiological interviews and case studies. Exceptional volunteers may be offered stipends.

We are looking for students who have successfully completed courses with lab components in biology, public health, and/or chemistry.

Students interested in the epidemiological component of the project should be highly organized, professional, and enjoy working with people. They will also need to be comfortable conducting telephone and in-person interviews and field surveys of rodents/insects (training in these areas will be provided). Preferred qualifications include speaking/writing Spanish and public health and/or epidemiology coursework.

Students interested in the field component should be self-motivated, demonstrate a willingness to learn new skills, and work both independently and cooperatively. They should enjoy the outdoors and understand that a certain amount of discomfort is associated with field work. Preferred qualifications include coursework in entomology, field ecology, mammalogy, and/or vertebrate anatomy.

Students interested in the lab component of sand-fly sample preparation and pathogen screening should be detail oriented, extremely organized, clean, and have basic microscopy skills. Preferred qualifications include entomology, public health, microbiology, and/or immunology laboratory course work.

Students interested in the geographic information systems component of the research should be familiar one of the following software packages or programming languages: ArcMAP, DivaGIS, R, Matlab, and/or Python. Preferred qualifications include GIS, geography, programming, and/or spatial statistics course work.

This is an ongoing project. We are looking for students with 1 or more years to spend working in the lab. We will accept applications until positions are filled.

Initial tasks will be focused on helping with existing projects and basic lab maintenance. As students become more skilled and have demonstrated commitment and conscientiousness, independent projects will be available in later semesters. In order to have a meaningful experience, we require that students have 10-20hrs per week to spend on the project and are able to attend lab meetings. Students who are interested in helping with weekend fieldwork are especially needed.