# overview
I examine fundamental ecological and evolutionary questions in parasite systems and consider my research to be at the interface of ecology, evolution, and genetics.  Parasitology provides a rich subject area for studies of ecology and evolutionary biology.  Numerous topics such as ecosystem dynamics, mating systems, or coevolution can be addressed because parasites are extremely diverse.  By diversity, I include not only the myriad of taxa that have independently evolved a parasitic lifestyle, but also the diversity in life cycles, modes of reproduction, host species, and ecosystems utilized by parasites.  This diversity also allows for comparative studies to address theories or unifying principles that span ecosystems or taxonomic groups.  Furthermore, there are many practical applications such as studying the evolution of drug resistance, or using parasite community structure to assess "ecosystem health".  My research interests address both basic and applied questions, and span three overlapping subject areas: 1) Evolution: Population Genetics, Mating Systems, and Molecular Epidemiology, 2) Ecology: Biodiversity, Conservation, and Natural History, and 3) Genetics and Ecological Genomics.

# keywords[]
30 Agricultural, Veterinary And Food Sciences

# keywords[]
30 Agricultural, Veterinary And Food Sciences

# educationAndTraining[].organization.label
Southeastern Louisiana University - (Hammond, Louisiana, United States)

# educationAndTraining[].organization.label
Oregon State University - (Corvallis, Oregon, United States)

# educationAndTraining[].organization.label
Louisiana State University - (Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States)

# publications[].label
TREMATODE CLONE ABUNDANCE DISTRIBUTIONS: AN ECO-EVOLUTIONARY LINK BETWEEN PARASITE TRANSMISSION AND PARASITE MATING SYSTEMS.

# publications[].label
Host genetics and population structure effects on parasitic disease.

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Little to no inbreeding depression in a tapeworm with mixed mating.

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Population genomics of helminth parasites.

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Comparing the hermaphroditic mating system of a parasitic flatworm between populations with an ancestral, 3-host life cycle and a derived, facultative-precocious life cycle.

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Parasite phylogeographical congruence with salmon host evolutionarily significant units: implications for salmon conservation.

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QUANTIFYING BILATERAL INFECTION PATTERNS IN THE TREMATODE ALLOGLOSSIDIUM RENALE.

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Cryptic lineage diversity in the zoonotic pathogen Angiostrongylus cantonensis.

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New Host Records for Alloglossidium progeneticum (Digenea: Alloglossiidae) in Crayfishes (Decapoda: Cambaridae) from Arkansas and Oklahoma, USA

# publications[].label
Molecular ecology of parasites: elucidating ecological and microevolutionary processes.

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Hurdles in the evolutionary epidemiology of Angiostrongylus cantonensis: Pseudogenes, incongruence between taxonomy and DNA sequence variants, and cryptic lineages.

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Alloglossidium floridense n. sp. (Digenea: Macroderoididae) from a spring run in North Central Florida.

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An infectious topic in reticulate evolution: introgression and hybridization in animal parasites.

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Effective sizes of macroparasite populations: a conceptual model.

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Parasite co-structure: broad and local scale approaches.

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ACCEPTANCE OF THE 2023 HENRY BALDWIN WARD MEDAL: PEDIGREE OF A PARASITOLOGIST PROGENY.

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Resolving evolutionary changes in parasite life cycle complexity: Molecular phylogeny of the trematode genus Alloglossidium indicates more than one origin of precociousness.

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Microsatellite markers for the human nematode parasite Ascaris lumbricoides: development and assessment of utility.

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Role of parasite transmission in promoting inbreeding: I. Infection intensities drive individual parasite selfing rates.

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Does a facultative precocious life cycle predispose the marine trematode Proctoeces cf. lintoni to inbreeding and genetic differentiation among host species?

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Species mtDNA genetic diversity explained by infrapopulation size in a host-symbiont system.

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Testing Mendelian inheritance from field-collected parasites: Revealing duplicated loci enables correct inference of reproductive mode and mating system.

# publications[].label
Testing the Mating System Model of Parasite Complex Life Cycle Evolution Reveals Demographically Driven Mixed Mating.

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Ribosomal DNA sequences indicate isolated populations of Ichthyophonus hoferi in geographic sympatry in the north-eastern Pacific Ocean

# publications[].label
Dr. William (Bill) Francis Font Jr., 11 August 1944-8 April 2022.

# publications[].label
Efficient genotyping of Schistosoma mansoni miracidia following whole genome amplification.

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Introduction of William F. Font, recipient of the 2012 Clark P. Read Mentor Award.

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Disentangling hybridization and host colonization in parasitic roundworms of humans and pigs.

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Life cycles shape parasite evolution: comparative population genetics of salmon trematodes.

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Minimal selfing, few clones, and no among-host genetic structure in a hermaphroditic parasite with asexual larval propagation.

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Recently introduced invasive geckos quickly reach population genetic equilibrium dynamics

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Applying evolutionary genetics to schistosome epidemiology.

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History of microevolutionary thought in parasitology: The integration of molecular population genetics

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Physiological Status Drives Metabolic Rate in Mediterranean Geckos Infected with Pentastomes.

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Role of parasite transmission in promoting inbreeding: II. Pedigree reconstruction reveals sib-transmission and consequent kin-mating.

# publications[].label
Development and specificity of Oochoristica javaensis (Eucestoda: cyclophyllidea: anoplocephalidae: linstowiinae)

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Landscape genetics reveals focal transmission of a human macroparasite.

# publications[].label
Characterization of 21 microsatellite loci from the invasive Mediterranean gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus)

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Genetic Epidemiology of Ascaris: Cross-transmission between Humans and Pigs, Focal Transmission, and Effective Population Size

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Characterization of 21 microsatellite loci for the precocious, grass-shrimp trematode Alloglossidium renale.

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The guest playing host: colonization of the introduced Mediterranean gecko, Hemidactylus turcicus, by helminth parasites in southeastern Louisiana.

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A comparison between mitochondrial DNA and the ribosomal internal transcribed regions in prospecting for cryptic species of platyhelminth parasites.

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Microsatellite loci from the trematode Lecithochirium fusiforme, a parasite of the European conger eel

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Ascariasis in people and pigs: new inferences from DNA analysis of worm populations.

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Recognizing the Causes of Parasite Morphological Variation to Resolve the Status of a Cryptogenic Pentastome.

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More than meets the eye: detecting cryptic microgeographic population structure in a parasite with a complex life cycle.

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Post-delisting genetic monitoring reveals population subdivision along river and reservoir localities of the endemic Concho water snake (Nerodia harteri paucimaculata)

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Testing local-scale panmixia provides insights into the cryptic ecology, evolution, and epidemiology of metazoan animal parasites.

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Eleven polymorphic microsatellite loci for the salmonid trematode Plagioporus shawi

# publications[].publisher
Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles

# publications[].label
Clonemate cotransmission supports a role for kin selection in a puppeteer parasite.

# publications[].publisher
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

# publications[].label
LANDSCAPE GENETICS REVEALS FOCAL TRANSMISSION OF ASCARIS LUMBRICOIDES

# publications[].label
Genomic linkage map of the human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni.

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Trematode Parasites (Digenea) of the Slender Madtom Noturus exilis and Black River Madtom Noturus maydeni (Siluriformes: Ictaluridae) from Arkansas, USA

# publications[].label
Evolutionary consequence of a change in life cycle complexity: A link between precocious development and evolution toward female-biased sex allocation in a hermaphroditic parasite.

# publications[].id
 Statistical evaluation of in situ fixation

# publications[].label
Artifactual and natural variation of Oochoristica javaensis

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A digenean metacercaria (Apophallus sp.) and a myxozoan (Myxobolus sp.) associated with vertebral deformities in cyprinid fishes from the Willamette River, Oregon

# publications[].label
Characterization of nine microsatellite loci for Dicrocoelium dendriticum, an emerging liver fluke of ungulates in North America, and their use to detect clonemates and random mating.

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Parasite genotypes identify source populations of migratory fish more accurately than fish genotypes.

# researcherOn[].label
Testing the Mating System Model for the Evolution of Parasite Complex Life-Cycles

# researcherOn[].awardedBy.label
National Science Foundation - (Arlington, Virginia, United States)

# researcherOn[].label
Biodiversity In the Parasitic Fluke Genus Alloglossidium: Evolutionary Origins of Changes In Life Cycle Complexity

# researcherOn[].awardedBy.label
National Science Foundation - (Arlington, Virginia, United States)

# streetAddress
Texas A&M University; Biology; 3258 TAMU

# etdChairOf[].label
Kasl, Emily Louise (2016-08). Phylogenetic Relationships in the Genus Alloglossidium (Digenea: Plagiorchioidea):  Evolutionary Origins and Implications of Changes in Life Cycle Complexity. Doctoral Dissertation.