Benjamin Bolker

Professor, Biology

0000-0002-2127-0443

My research lies at the interface(s) between ecology, evolution, and epidemiology in biology; and math, statistics, and computation in mathematical sciences. I am particularly interested in the ecology and evolution of host-pathogen interactions (including infectious diseases of humans), and in the spatiotemporal dynamics of ecological communities. In computational statistics, I develop and maintain algorithms and software for fitting multilevel models as well as more general statistical (maximum likelihood models). Biological systems I have worked with include (among many others) COVID-19, influenza, bubonic plague, Ebola, and HIV in current-day and historical human populations; movement ecology and demography of black bears and Florida panthers; wildlife disease in tiger salamanders and gopher tortoises; and bird-mediated dispersal of seeds among forest patches.