We are building tools that leverage evidence to answer questions. Wildlife managers present their critical needs, and we deliver solutions. Specifically, we use evidence-based methods to analyze factors that affect wildlife disease outcomes, yielding insights that support decision-making for wildlife management partners.
Explore Population-Scale Impacts
While diseases affect individual animals, a key focus in wildlife health is assessing population-level impacts. Addressing these larger effects may necessitate cross-jurisdictional collaboration to ensure long-term species viability and conservation.
Answer Questions in Wildlife Demography
Before exploring population-scale impacts, we must first understand the population dynamics of the free-ranging hosts. Utilizing demographic tools, we can place disease models into their real-world context.
Plan Annual Surveillance of Wildlife Disease
In addition to passive disease surveillance, we have advanced our ability to refine and optimize surveillance programs using data as they are generated. This enables us to learn from investigations, detecting diseases early while controlling costs and maximizing statistical power.
About an Outbreak
Understanding Outbreak Potential. While exploring how the herd dynamics of cervids may influence the spread of CWD, we discovered truths applicable to any species with the same transmission dynamics.
Predicting an Outbreak. Through widespread collaboration among wildlife agencies, data sharing, and the application of powerful machine learning techniques, we developed a tool that makes regional predictions of disease emergence.
Exploring an Outbreak. An innovative wildlife version of contact tracing, we utilized data to determine where an infected host may have exposed other hosts up to the moment of its discovery.
Estimate Prevalence of Disease
We designed a tool to help managers estimate the maximum underlying unseen prevalence based on the number of diagnostic tests administered.
Finding the Unseen
Our molecular laboratory team works to find creative solutions to help wildlife managers make better-informed management decisions. We develop new molecular biology methods, refine existing tools, and improve sensitivity to help expand the use of non-invasive and minimally invasive detection methods. Contact us for collaboration.
