Research

Members of the Gompper lab draw on ecological, epidemiological, and evolutionary perspectives to address fundamental and applied issues related to three primary topics: (1) the ecology of mammalian carnivores, (2) animal disease ecology, and (3) the ecology of subsidized predators. While these topics can be perceived as distinct, much of our work links these themes. For instance, theoretical and experimental studies of disease ecology typically involve examining carnivores as model organisms, and studies of subsidized predators focus on free-ranging dogs and include an attempt to understand their disease ecology and their interactions with native species of carnivores. While much of our work has an applied emphasis, we do not shy away from addressing issues that might be deemed “basic science”. At any moment, we are involved in a diverse array of projects both in the US and across the globe. And while we work extensively with mammalian carnivores, we also examine a diversity of other vertebrate taxa, from trout (parasitic copepods!) to deer (CWD!) to people (leptospirosis!).