We are Dr. Sarah Zohdy’s Disease Ecology Lab!
Principle Investigator
Dr. Sarah Zohdy, is an Associate Professor of Disease Ecology in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences and College of Veterinary Medicine at Auburn University.
Katie Izenour is a PhD student. After earning her MPH in Epidemiology from Tulane University, she has spent almost 10 years working as a consultant for the government supporting the US Navy, US Air Force and Centers for Disease control and Prevention. Most recently she was an analyst at the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in Washington DC conducing analysis of on routinely collected data for Male Circumcision as well as for adolescent girls and young women. Katie’s passion has always been animals; feeing unsatisfied with her desk job, she took a leave of absence in 2016 to spend a total of three months volunteering at an animal shelter in Cairo, Egypt and at a wildlife sanctuary in Agra, India. It was during this trip that she decided it was time for a career change and time to get out from behind her desk and time to finally do something that she was excited about. Given Katie’s broad background in public health and data analysis she started her PhD in the Department of Pathobiology at Auburn University’s college of Veterinary Medicine the summer of 2018. Katie’s PhD research explores the relationship and interface between domestic animals, their vectors, humans and the pathogens that can move between them in Cairo, Egypt. Her decision conduct her research in Egypt arose from realizing how litter information there was about animal health, vectors and vector borne diseases in Egypt and North Africa. The opportunity to contribute to the body of scientific work has been Katie’s passion.
Katie was the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship to Egypt, 2019-2020 during which time she lived in Cairo, Egypt, to collect her samples, learn Arabic and experience all that Egypt has to offer. She collaborated with Dr. Fayez Salib at Cairo University’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases to collect samples and process them in the University’s laboratory. She has incorporated some innovative technology to her research – The Bento Lab portable laboratory and Cellabs Tropbio Filter Paper Blood Collection DisksTM.
Read more about Katie’s work: Here on the Auburn website, and learn about her Fulbright experience Here!
Jocelyn Lindner is a graduate student working towards an M.S. in Zoology from the University of Otago, New Zealand. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa where she graduated in Natural Resource and Environmental Management, specializing in Wildlife Management. Part way through, she studied Rainforest Management abroad with the School for Field Studies to the North Island of New Zealand and Queensland, Australia. She was also an intern for the Hawaiian Institute for Marine Biology shark lab, the Marine Mammal Research Program and a volunteer at the Honolulu Zoo elephant section. She then returned to New Zealand and graduated with a Postgraduate Diploma in Wildlife Management from the University of Otago. Now, she is a member of the Evolutionary and Ecological Parasitology research group with supervision from Professor Robert Poulin. Her thesis aims to determine the diversity and abundance of parasites in Eulemur macaco, the black lemur. This entails collecting fecal samples from three locations in Madagascar, and using microscopy and sequencing to compare parasites between individuals, groups, and environments. “I am very fortunate to have Sarah Zohdy as my co-supervisor and to be included as a member of the Disease Ecology and Evolution in the Tropics lab.”
Lab Graduates
Doyeon Park is a Master’s student in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences. She received a B.S. in Biomedical Sciences from Auburn University and has been interested in mosquito borne diseases that can be zoonotic since taking a Human Parasitology class as an undergrad. She is currently working with a laboratory model of canine heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) to better understand how parasite larval development can influence mosquito fitness and exploring research questions related to this system.
Ben McKenzie is a graduate student working towards an M.S in Wildlife Science. Ben earned his B.S in Ecology and Biodiversity from The University of the South in Sewanee, TN. Past research includes geospatial analysis of salamander distributions in the Cumberland Plateau region of Tennessee, the effects of land use on salamander abundance and geospatial analysis of the degradation of vernal pool networks on the Cumberland Plateau. Ben is currently working to model the potential role of shipping in the spread of Aedes mosquitos in the gulf coast region of the US.
Shelby Zikeli received her M.S in Wildlife Science and is currently enrolled as a PhD student in the Hood Lab at Auburn for a PhD. She received her B.S in Science from California University of Pennsylvania. Past research includes; studying the presence of Toxoplasma gondii in Madagascar’s small rodents as well as aiding in a long -term study of the relationships between native and invasive species in Ronamafana National Park, Madagascar. She is currently working on small mammal research relating to Lyme disease and the abundance and distribution of its small-mammal host species in Alabama.
Victoria Crabtree is a student at Auburn University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. She graduated summa cum laude from Eastern Kentucky University with her Bachelor of Science. Victoria was recently accepted into the Merial Summer Scholars Research Program through the College of Veterinary Medicine. This summer she will travel to Madagascar with Dr. Sarah Zohdy to study the ecological drivers of diseases in both humans and animals, especially lemurs. They will take a One Health approach to improving wildlife conservation while simultaneously improving human health.
Allison Siu received her B.S. in Biology and Exercise Science from the University of Louisville, as well as her Master of Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology from the University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences. Her past research includes spinal cord injury locomotor rehabilitation, perception and use of tobacco and tobacco related products in vulnerable populations, and community health and asthma. She is currently working towards a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine. Her research interests include zoonotic diseases, field epidemiology, emerging infectious diseases, and the One Health approach to medicine and research. In her spare time she enjoys rock climbing, snowboarding, baking, and traveling. Her future aspiration includes integrating veterinary medicine and public health in the protection of population health and prevention of infectious diseases.
Cullen Anderson is a Wildlife Ecology and Management student. He is an outdoorsy dude and loves just sitting out in the woods for hours, hiking, and generally enjoying nature. He is interested in predator ecology in general, but specifically carnivore genetics in Madagascar. He is also interested in the genetic identity of the mysterious Malagasy black forest cat known as the fitoaty.
Shakara McGirt is a senior majoring in Wildlife with a Pre-Vet concentration. With already having her Associates degree in Biology, she plans to keep building on to her degrees by getting her Master’s degree by studying infectious diseases in primates. Then she plans on going to veterinarian school to become a rehabilitation veterinarian or zoo veterinarian. In her free time she loves to fish and go on nature walks with her dog.
KirstenRice is an undergraduate in the school of Forestry and Wildlife here at Auburn. Her major is wildlife science pre-vet. She has always had an interest in working and interacting with wildlife, especially elephants. Currently, she is working on a project dealing with the interactions and disease transmission between humans an elephants along with helping out in the lab with Dr. Zohdy’s projects. She loves working with animals and hopes to one day travel to different countries working on progressing elephant conservation and care.
Jordan Broadhead is a junior in Wildlife Sciences Pre-Vet and is currently Vice President of the Wildlife Society and a School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences Student Ambassador. After graduation he would like to attend vet school and pursue a career in zoonotic disease research. His current research interest is rodent-eating snakes and their impact on disease reservoir populations in the eastern rain forests of Madagascar. In his free time he enjoys caring for his eleven snakes and two aquariums, working out, and spending time outdoors.
Seth Rankins is working on his B. S. in Wildlife Ecology and Management. His current research project focuses on the detection of Ehrlichia spp. and Anaplasma spp. in in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Additionally, he is interested in identifying what morphological characteristics influence an individual deer’s susceptibility to infection by the previously mentioned bacteria.
Janet Roberts studies Natural Resources Management with a minor in Natural Resources Ecology. As part of the Disease Ecology Lab, she will be examining lemur dietary health. She has been in love with these primates for years and hopes to one day apply her experience in research to a classroom environment where she can teach young people the importance of science and lemurs together!
