Understanding the impacts of pathogens on animal populations and the environment

We help identify the presence of infectious agents, and our laboratory is well equipped with automated high throughput nucleic acid extraction and amplification equipment. We help design and implement pathogen detection assays to define pathogen loads in environments of importance to wildlife. In addition, our sequencing capability allows us to track bacterial and viral pathogens across animal communities and ecosystems, and to characterize novel species of cultured organisms. These capabilities can be used to better understand the distribution and movements of pathogens, and to help discern impacts of these pathogens on animal populations and the environment.