Education

Research Interests

Emerging infectious diseases can threaten the persistence of vulnerable wildlife populations, including and especially populations that have been reduced or isolated by other stressors such as habitat destruction or poaching. My research seeks to understand the dynamics of diseases emergence between host species (spillover) and develop molecular tools to surveil for pathogens and monitor host populations on the landscape.

Selected Publications

Weckworth, J., Davis, B., Dubovi, E., Fountain-Jones, N., Packer, C., Cleaveland, S., Craft, M., Eblate, E., Schwartz, M., Mills, L.S.. Roelke-Parker, M. (2020). Cross-species transmission and evolutionary dynamics of canine distemper virus during a spillover in African lions of Serengeti National Park. (In Press)

Sollmann, R., Betsch, J., Furtado, M., Hofer, H., J.como, A. A., Palomares, F., Roques, S., et al. (2013). Note on the diet of the jaguar in central Brazil. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 1–4.doi:10.1007/s10344-013-0708-9

Book Chapters:

Betsch, J. (2013). Techniques for diet analysis of carnivore scats. In Mills,  L.S., Tshering, & E. Cheng (Eds.), Wildlife Research Techniques in Rugged Mountainous Asian Landscapes. UgyenWangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environment, Bhutan. ISBN: 978-99937-678-9-6

Kelly, M., Wultsch, C., Betsch, J., Mesa, B., Mills, L.S. (2012). Noninvasive Sampling for Carnivores.In L. Boitani & R. Powell (Eds.), Carnivore Ecology and Conservation: A Handbook of Techniques