Clay Cressler
Assistant Professor
ccressler2@unl.edu
Interested in disease ecology and evolution, consumer-resource interactions, life history evolution, feedbacks between individual-level and population-level processes as a central challenge in biology, and connecting theory and data to test biological hypotheses.
Assistant Professor
ccressler2@unl.edu
Interested in disease ecology and evolution, consumer-resource interactions, life history evolution, feedbacks between individual-level and population-level processes as a central challenge in biology, and connecting theory and data to test biological hypotheses.
Jessica Hite
NIH Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Homepage
Combines experiments, field surveys, and theory to understand the mechanisms linking parasites, individual-level traits, and population-level changes. Working on: How does variation in host population stability influences parasite evolution (and vice versa)? How does variation in nutritional resources influence the evolution of virulence?
NIH Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Homepage
Combines experiments, field surveys, and theory to understand the mechanisms linking parasites, individual-level traits, and population-level changes. Working on: How does variation in host population stability influences parasite evolution (and vice versa)? How does variation in nutritional resources influence the evolution of virulence?
Reilly Cooper
Ph.D. student (started 08/2016)
Homepage
Working on understanding the Daphnia microbiota, identifying the key species within the microbiota, mapping their functions, linking function to host fitness, and tracking how they are transmitted across generations.
Ph.D. student (started 08/2016)
Homepage
Working on understanding the Daphnia microbiota, identifying the key species within the microbiota, mapping their functions, linking function to host fitness, and tracking how they are transmitted across generations.
Alaina Pfenning
Ph.D. student (started 08/2017)
Studying the circadian rhythm of Daphnia traits that mediate infection (feeding rate, immunity), linking circadian rhythm to variation in individual- and population-level disease processes in both lab and natural Daphnia populations.
Ph.D. student (started 08/2017)
Studying the circadian rhythm of Daphnia traits that mediate infection (feeding rate, immunity), linking circadian rhythm to variation in individual- and population-level disease processes in both lab and natural Daphnia populations.
David Nguyen
NSF GRFP student (started 08/2018)
Interested in the mathematical modeling of wildlife disease, currently working on ghost moose - tick infestations in moose populations in the Northeast.
NSF GRFP student (started 08/2018)
Interested in the mathematical modeling of wildlife disease, currently working on ghost moose - tick infestations in moose populations in the Northeast.
Interested in joining the lab?
Graduate Students
The Cressler lab studies the ecology and evolution of infectious disease using a combination of experimental and theoretical approaches. If you are interested in joining the lab, you will have the opportunity to develop a research program that is aligned with your own interests and expertise, tapping into the great set of resources available here at UNL to develop into dynamic, integrative scientists. If that sounds like something that interests you, drop me a line at ccressler2@unl.edu or @ClayCressler.
Current research in the lab uses the Daphnia as a model system to study a number of questions, including:
We also study within-host and between-host infection processes by developing novel mathematical models. Of particular interest are questions relating to the interaction between host resources, the immune response, and parasites, such as:
If your interests lie outside the broad area of disease ecology and evolution, I would still be interested in hearing from you. Ongoing research projects in the lab touch on population ecology, life history evolution, consumer-resource interactions, and phylogenetic comparative methods, to name a few.
The School of Biological Sciences at the University of Nebraska has a large, collaborative group of faculty and grad students working in ecology, evolution, and behavior (see the faculty listing). There are also a number of faculty in the math department that work in the area of mathematical biology (Drs. Deng, Jin, Ledder, and Rebarber).
Further information about the application process, the department, the University, and life in Lincoln can be found here.
The Cressler lab studies the ecology and evolution of infectious disease using a combination of experimental and theoretical approaches. If you are interested in joining the lab, you will have the opportunity to develop a research program that is aligned with your own interests and expertise, tapping into the great set of resources available here at UNL to develop into dynamic, integrative scientists. If that sounds like something that interests you, drop me a line at ccressler2@unl.edu or @ClayCressler.
Current research in the lab uses the Daphnia as a model system to study a number of questions, including:
- What are the ecological consequences of host manipulation by parasites?
- How do ecological factors like host diet and temperature influence the evolution of parasite virulence?
- What is the role of the host microbiome in mediating host-parasite specificity?
- How does the gut microbiome individual life history and fitness, and how do those fitness effects interact with transmission to determine the effects of the microbiome on host population dynamics?
We also study within-host and between-host infection processes by developing novel mathematical models. Of particular interest are questions relating to the interaction between host resources, the immune response, and parasites, such as:
- How does host resource availability influence whether the immune response is directed towards parasite killing (“resistance”) versus damage limitation (“tolerance”)?
- Are between-host dynamics different when parasites are limited more by within-host resource availability than by the immune system?
- What determines how long an infection will last, and its health consequences for the host?
- When does the interaction between within-host processes (e.g., the immune response) and between-host processes (e.g., transmission) give rise to self-reinforcing feedbacks, such as the “negative spiral” between malnutrition and infection?
If your interests lie outside the broad area of disease ecology and evolution, I would still be interested in hearing from you. Ongoing research projects in the lab touch on population ecology, life history evolution, consumer-resource interactions, and phylogenetic comparative methods, to name a few.
The School of Biological Sciences at the University of Nebraska has a large, collaborative group of faculty and grad students working in ecology, evolution, and behavior (see the faculty listing). There are also a number of faculty in the math department that work in the area of mathematical biology (Drs. Deng, Jin, Ledder, and Rebarber).
Further information about the application process, the department, the University, and life in Lincoln can be found here.
