Allison Gardner
Education
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2016, PhD Entomology
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2015, MS Statistics
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2012, MS Veterinary Pathobiology
- Williams College, 2010, BA History and Biology
Brief Biography
I am a medical entomologist and my research focuses on the ecology of infectious diseases of humans and wildlife that are transmitted by arthropod vectors, such as mosquitoes or ticks. I use lab and field studies in conjunction with geographic, quantitative, and molecular tools to address questions related to 1) understanding the basic biology of arthropod vectors and the socio-environmental conditions that enhance disease transmission, 2) developing effective, sustainable vector management strategies that are grounded in ecological theory, and 3) predicting future hotspots of transmission to facilitate targeted public health prevention and intervention efforts. Current projects include studying the invasion of the blacklegged tick and Lyme disease in Maine, investigating the ecology of a mosquito vector for Zika virus in the Caribbean, and understanding the interactions between risk of exposure to vector-borne disease and economic interests (e.g., timber harvesting, tourism) at local and international spatial scales. I am an Assistant Professor in the School of Biology and Ecology and a cooperating faculty member in the Ecology and Environmental Sciences program, the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, and the Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering at the University of Maine.
