Sonia Altizer


Martha Odum Distinguished Professor of Ecology
Graduate Program Faculty

Curriculum Vitae

Professional Website

Education

Ph.D. – University of Minnesota
B.S. – Duke University

Honors, Awards, and Achievements

2020: Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

2018: Lamar Dodd Creative Research Award

2016: Lothar Tresp Outstanding Honors Professor

2014: UGA Athletic Association Professor of Ecology

2012: Odum School of Ecology Faculty Instructor of the Year Award

2008: Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering (PECASE)

2008: University of Georgia Award for Teaching Excellence

2008: Odum School of Ecology Award for Teaching Excellence

Research Interests

RESEARCH INTERESTS

  • Ecology of infectious diseases in natural populations
  • Evolution of host resistance and parasite virulence
  • Insect ecology and evolution
  • Animal migrations
  • Anthropogenic change and infectious disease dynamics

RESEARCH PROJECTS

  • Animal migration and infectious disease dynamics
  • Effects of host behavior on parasite transmission
  • Urbanization, resource subsidies, and infectious disease risk in wildlife
  • Climate change and infectious diseases
  • Macroecology of infectious diseases
  • Natural systems of butterflies, birds, bats and primates
Selected Publications

Prouty, C., Bartlett, L.J., Krischik, V. and Altizer, S. 2023. Adult monarch butterflies show high tolerance to neonicotinoid insecticides. Ecological Entomology.

Ezenwa, V.O., Altizer, S., and Hall, R.J. 2022. Animal Behavior and Parasitism (book). Oxford University Press.

Majewska, A.A., Davis, A.K., Altizer, S. and de Roode, J.C., 2022. Parasite dynamics in North American monarchs predicted by host density and seasonal migratory culling. Journal of Animal Ecology, 91(4), pp.780-793. **Cover article

Sánchez, C.A., Altizer, S. and Hall, R.J., 2020. Landscape-level toxicant exposure mediates infection impacts on wildlife populations. Biology Letters, 16(11), p.20200559.

Satterfield, D.A., Sillett, T.S., Chapman, J., Altizer, S., Marra, P. 2020. Seasonal movements of insects: massive, influential, and overlooked. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 18(6): 335-344.

Majewska, A.A. and Altizer, S. 2020. Planting gardens to support insect pollinators. Conservation Biology. 34: 15-25

Teitelbaum, C., Altizer, S., Hall, R.J. 2020. Movement rules determine nomadic species’ responses to resource supplementation and degradation. Journal of Animal Ecology. 89:2644–2656.

Satterfield, D.A., Altizer, S., Williams, M.K. and Hall, R.J., 2017. Environmental persistence influences infection dynamics for a butterfly pathogen. PloS One, 12(1), p.e0169982.

McKay, A.F., Ezenwa, V.O. and Altizer, S., 2016. Unravelling the costs of flight for immune defenses in the migratory monarch butterfly. Integrative and Comparative Biology, p.icw056.

Streicker, D.G., Winternitz, J.C., Satterfield, D.A., Condori-Condori, R.E., Broos, A., Tello, C., Recuenco, S., Velasco-Villa, A., Altizer, S. and Valderrama, W., 2016. Host-pathogen evolutionary signatures reveal dynamics and future invasions of vampire bat rabies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, p.201606587.

Altizer, S., Hobson, K.A., Davis, A.K., De Roode, J.C. and Wassenaar, L.I., 2015. Do Healthy Monarchs Migrate Farther? Tracking Natal Origins of Parasitized vs. Uninfected Monarch Butterflies Overwintering in Mexico. PloS One, 10(11).

Huang, S., Drake, J. M., Gittleman, J. L. and Altizer, S. 2015. Parasite diversity declines with host evolutionary distinctiveness: a global scale analysis of carnivores. Evolution.69 (3): 621-630

Becker, D., Streicker, D., and Altizer, S. 2015. Linking anthropogenic resources to wildlife-pathogen dynamics: a review and meta-analysis. Ecology Letters. 18.5 (2015): 483-495

Satterfield, D., Maerz, J. and Altizer, S. 2015. Loss of migratory behavior supports high parasite prevalence in a butterfly host. Proceedings of the Royal Society Series B. 1801: 20141734.

Zhan,S., Zhang, W., Niitepõld, K., Hsu, J., Fernández Haeger, J., Zalucki, M., Altizer, S., de Roode, J., Reppert, S., and Kronforst, M. 2014. The genetics of monarch butterfly migration and warning coloration. Nature. 514 (7522), 317-321

Rushmore, J., Caillaud, D., Hall, R.J., Stumpf, R.M., Meyers, L.A. and Altizer, S. 2014. Network-based vaccination improves prospects for disease control in wild chimpanzees.Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 11(97), 20140349

Hall, R.J., Bartel, R. and Altizer, S. 2014. Greater migratory propensity in hosts lowers pathogen transmission and impacts. Journal of Animal Ecology. 83: 1068-1077.

Huang, S., Bininda-Emonds, O.R.P., Stephens, P.R., Gittleman, J.L., and Altizer, S. 2014. Phylogenetically related and ecologically similar carnivores harbor similar parasite assemblages. Journal of Animal Ecology. 83(3), 671-680

Winternitz, J., Michey, S., Garamszegi, L., Huang, S., Stephens, P., and Altizer, S. 2013. Sexual selection explains more functional variation in the mammalian MHC than parasitism. Proceedings of the Royal Society Series B. 280(1769), 20131605

Blackwood, J.C., Streicker, D.G., Altizer, S., and Rohani, P. 2013. Resolving the roles of immunity, pathogenesis, and immigration for rabies persistence in vampire bats. PNAS.110(51): 20837-20842

Altizer, S., Ostfeld, R.S., Harvell, C.D., Johnson, P.T.J., and Kutz, S. 2013. Climate change and infectious disease: from evidence to a predictive framework. Science. 341: 514-519.

J. Rushmore, D. Caillaud, L. Matamba, R. M. Stumpf, S. P. Borgatti, and S. Altizer. 2013. Social network analysis of wild chimpanzees with insights for infectious disease risk.Journal of Animal Ecology, 82: 976-986.

Streicker, D.G., Recuenco, S., Valderrama, W., Gomez-Benavides, J., Vargas, I., Pacheco, V., Condori, R.E, Montgomery, J., Rupprecht, C.E., Rohani, P. and Altizer, S. 2012. Ecological and anthropogenic drivers of rabies exposure in vampire bats: implications for transmission and control. Proceedings of the Royal Society Series B.279(1742):3384-92.

Bartel, B., Oberhauser, K., DeRoode, J. and Altizer, S. 2011. Monarch butterfly migration and parasite transmission in eastern North America. Ecology. 92, 342-351 **Cover article

Altizer, S., Bartel, B. and Han, B. 2011. Animal migrations and infectious disease risk. Science. 331: 296-302.