Conservation

Emerging infectious diseases are key threats to biological systems and threaten the conservation and stability of global ecosystems. My research merges basic and applied research, conservation science, and policy to advance the understanding and management of infectious disease on wildlife. My work has focused on treatment and ecologically driven management strategies for white-nose syndrome, an infectious fungal disease decimating bat populations in North America. Specifically, I have worked on developing probiotic bacteria to reduce fungal infections and delaying transmission through the reduction of the environmental pathogen reservoir.

Selected publications:

Hoyt, J.R., K.E. Langwig, J.P. White, H.M. Kaarakka, J.A. Redell, K.L. Parise, W.F. Frick, J.T. Foster, A.M. Kilpatrick. 2019. Field trial of a probiotic bacteria and a chemical, chitosan, to protect bats from white-nose syndrome
Scientific Reports. 9158

Hoyt, J.R., T.L. Cheng, K.E. Langwig, M.H. Hee, W.F. Frick, and A.M. Kilpatrick. 2015 Bacteria isolated from bats inhibit the growth of Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the causative agent of white-nose syndrome. PLoS One.10(4): e0121329 Open Access Link

Cheng, T.L., H. Mayberry, L.P. McGuire, J.R. Hoyt, H. Nguyen, K.L. Parise, J.T. Foster, C.K.R. Willis, A.M. Kilpatrick, W.F. Frick. 2017. Efficacy of a probiotic bacterium to treat bats affected by the disease white-nose syndrome Journal of Applied Ecology DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.12757 PDF

Langwig, K.E.,Voyles, J., Wilber, M.Q., Frick, W.F., Murray, K., Bolker, B.M., Collins, J.P., Hoyt, J.R., Willis, C.W., Cheng, T.L., Fisher, M., Lindner, D.,McCallum, H., Puschendorf, R., Rosenblum, E.B., Toothman, M., Briggs, C.J., Kilpatrick, A.M. 2015. Context-dependent conservation responses to wildlife disease. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 13(4): 195–202