THE LAB GROUP
Lab Head:
Courtney C. Murdock
Associate Professor
6136 Comstock Hall
Department of Entomology College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853
Contact: ccm256@cornell.edu
607-255-0904
Post-doctoral Researchers
Joel Brown
Post-doctoral Researcher (July 2021 - present)
6138 Comstock Hall
Department of Entomology
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
email: jjb423@cornell.edu
I will be focusing on how temperature and relative humidity interact to affect traits of the Asian malaria mosquito vector Anopheles stephensi and human malaria (Plasmodium falciparum) and applying these findings to models of urban malaria transmission. Broadly, I have long been fascinated by parasite ecology and the interactions between host and symbiont, whether mutualistic, commensal, or parasitic. I have previously worked on how symbionts and temperature change can influence species interactions at the community level, and have studied the microbiome of kissing bugs (Triatominae) and its relationship with vectorial capacity. Beyond research, I am a keen herpetologist, naturalist, climber, and wildlife photographer.
Daniel Hartman
Post-doctoral Researcher (August 2021 - present)
6138 Comstock Hall
Department of Entomology
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
email: dah385@cornell.edu
I’m interested in arbovirus ecology from a traits-based perspective. The virus, the vertebrate host, and the vector all represent complex populations with variations among traits that are highly related to disease transmission. These traits may also be interrelated among individuals in the form of life-history trade-offs. Further, the traits of these entities may be subject to phenotypic plasticity in the face of varying environmental factors and ecological conditions. The overarching goal of my research is to gain a holistic view of these collective traits and their fitness consequences under a variety of conditions. I use a combination of empirical approaches in the field and the laboratory, while stitching these data sets together using ecological models to evaluate the most impactful factors to inform disease control.
Brandon Hollingsworth
CIHMID Post-doctoral Researcher (September 2021 - present)
6138 Comstock Hall
Department of Entomology
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
email: bdh79@cornell.edu
I am interested in determining how Aedes mosquitoes move through heterogeneous environments and how that impacts the spread of mosquito-borne disease and the effectiveness of mosquito control. Currently, my work looks at the potential for using the mosquito virome to understand mosquito movement and seeks to combine novel mathematical and statistical techniques with population genetics and viromics in a field setting.
Anna Langmüller
MSCA Post-doctoral Global Fellow (January 2022 - present)
Weill Hall
Department of Computational Biology
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
email: aml452@cornell.edu
I investigate the effect of population structure on the spread of mosquito-transmitted diseases using evolutionary simulation models as well as powerful statistical frameworks. I hope that my research sheds light on how spatial structure affects host-pathogen dynamics and how we can use this knowledge to improve disease forecasting and evaluate proposed intervention strategies.
Brandy St Laurent
Post-doctoral Researcher (February 2023 - present)
6140 Comstock Hall
Department of Entomology
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 15853
email: bs744@cornell.edu
I am a vector ecologist interested in malaria transmission in areas with diverse vector species. I have done extensive field work in Southeast Asia and Africa, collecting malaria mosquitoes in forests and villages to examine their feeding behaviors. I have most recently dabbled in the population genomics of several Southeast Asian malaria vectors from my collections to investigate the population structure of these mosquitoes in a region where drug-resistant malaria parasites are spreading and insecticide-resistance is increasing. I have also done malaria transmission experiments in the lab to see how well malaria parasite isolates from the field infect diverse species. My work in the Murdock lab will focus on the impact of malaria parasite infection on Anopheles mosquito life history traits and behaviors.
Graduate Students
Nicole Solano
NSF IDEAS PhD student (August 2017 - present)
136 Ecology Building
Odum School of Ecology
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602
email: nsolano@uga.edu
I am interested in exploring the effect of larval interspecific competition on adult mosquito community dynamics and fitness with regards to disease transmission, how the outcome of competition is mediated by variation in microclimate due to land use change, and how mathematical models could use these data for broad-scale predictions about human disease transmission.
Mike Newberry
NSF GRFP and IDEAS PhD student (August 2017 - present)
136 Ecology Building
Odum School of Ecology
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602
email: PMnewberry@uga.edu
I am investigating the interaction of the microbiome, the mosquito vector, and environmental factors. This includes examining within host and outside host microbial communities and observing how they vary across land use and season. I also intend to empirically determine the impacts of the microbiome on the vectorial capacity and life history traits of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. My overall goal is to utilize a line of questioning that spans multiple scales of ecology to better understand abiotic and biotic drivers of vector-borne disease transmission.
Britny Johnson
PhD student (January 2022 - present)
6140 Comstock Hall
Department of Entomology
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 15853
email: blj54@cornell.edu
Mosquitoes are arguably one of the deadliest organisms on the planet next to humans and are responsible for more deaths in the world than any other animal due to the diseases they carry. Specifically, malaria infects around 240 million people and kills approximately 620,000 people each year of which 80% are children under the age of 5. With climate change shifting habitat range and environmental conditions, it is important to understand how these changes might impact the dynamics between mosquitoes and malaria. My research interests include life history traits and trade-offs that occur between them. My goal is to understand how the mosquito allocates energy between reproduction and immunity in varying environmental conditions and then use that knowledge to better predict the dynamics of malaria infection in mosquitoes.
Martina Morelli
PhD student (January 2022 - present)
E351 Corson Hall
Department of Ecology and Evolution
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 15853
email: mem498@cornell.edu
I am generally interested in vector-borne disease dynamics and quantitative ecology. In my research, I will use a combination of modeling and empirical methods to investigate within-vector population dynamics of malaria, and how these dynamics determine life history strategies of the parasite.
Research Staff
Sarita Charap
The Mosquito Whisperer (February 2021 - present)
6138 Comstock Hall
Department of Entomology
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 15853
email: sc3254@cornell.edu
Undergraduate Researchers
Sarah Smail (Sep 2021 - present)
Anna Asomoah (Jan 2023 - present)
Alumni:
Research Scientists and Post-doctoral Researchers
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Ashutosh Pathak (Fall 2015 - Fall 2019)
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Christine Reitmayer (Fall 2016 - Summer 2018)
Graduate Students
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Blanka Tesla (Fall 2015 - Winter 2019)
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Michelle Evans (Fall 2015 - Fall 2020)
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Kerri Miazgowicz (Fall 2015 - Winter 2020)
Undergraduate Researchers
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Erin Connelly (June 2021 - December 2022)
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Lilith South (Spring 2018, REU student 2018, Aug 2018 - Spring 2019)
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Sydney Habegger (Summer 2018 - Spring 2019)
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Alyssa Slicko (REU student, 2018)
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Carl Hintz (REU student, 2017)
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Lindsey Jones (REU student, 2017)
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Emily Cook (Georgia Veterinay Scholar, 2017)
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Justine Shiau (Fall 2016 - July 2018)
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Jack Owen (Spring 2016 - Spring 2017)
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Diana Diaz (Summer 2016 - Fall 2016)
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Kavya Balaji (Fall 2016 - Spring 2018)
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Nicole Solano (REU student, 2016)
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Temitayo Andanlawo (REU student, 2016)
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Taylor McClanahan (REU student, 2015)