Allison Gardner

Associate Professor of Arthropod Vector Biology Allison Gardner portrait

Degree: PhD 2016, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Phone: 207.581.3115
Website: https://www.allisonmgardner.com/
Email: allison.gardner@maine.edu
Location: 310 Deering Hall
“My lab studies the emergence, spread, and sustainable management of infectious diseases that are transmitted by arthropod vectors, like mosquitoes or ticks.  Our collaborative research draws upon concepts and tools from diverse disciplines such as wildlife ecology, molecular biology, mathematics, geography, and public health.”

Research Topic:
Medical entomology, vector-borne disease ecology, epidemiology

Research Program: 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. 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. My current projects include studying the impacts of land use and climate change on the invasion of the blacklegged tick and Lyme disease in Maine, investigating the ecology and management of a mosquito vector for Zika virus in the Bahamas, and understanding the interactions between risk of exposure to vector-borne disease and tourism at local and international spatial scales.

Publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Ev9Z5AIAAAAJ