Todd Huspeni, assistant professor of biology at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP), co-authored an article on parasites recently published in one of the worlds prestigious peer-review scientific journals.

"As biologists, we have long known about the ecological importance of predation, competition, physical factors (such as the weather), as well as resource requirements organisms have," Huspeni said. "However, parasites and infectious disease agents are usually more hidden. They are often only seen in dramatic cases, such as when many hosts die in an epidemic. Mostly, parasites are small, often hidden within a host, and are therefore unseen and less studied."

The research, supported by a five-year grant from the joint National Science Foundation/National Institute of Health ecology of infectious diseases program, was set up to bridge the chasm between the agencies concerning the role of ecology in the investigation of infectious diseases. Collaborators with Huspeni include researchers from Princeton University, University of California-Santa Barbara (UCSB), the U.S. Geological Service, Mexican researchers from the Yucatan and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI).

The study began shortly after Huspeni received his doctorate from UCSB in 2000. His role in this project was as a research biologist who principally managed the design and scheduling of invertebrate field sampling, as well as laboratory analyses on collected hosts. Huspeni also designed the protocol and supervised the collection of data to measure the daily and annual reproductive rates of parasite stages. Analysis of the data continued after he began work here at UWSP in 2004.

Huspeni also credits his graduate and postdoctoral experience at UCSB with preparing him for success here at UWSP.

"I saw firsthand the impressive contributions undergraduates can make on research projects, and how important our mentoring is in the career of undergraduates considering graduate studies. I also began to appreciate how much I wanted to find an academic home where I could continue mentoring and advising undergraduates as they prepare for careers in biology. I am pleased that UWSP puts such a high priority on faculty mentoring and undergraduate research, and this is one of the main reasons we are as successful as a campus," concluded Huspeni.

Huspeni received his masters at UCSB and his bachelors degree in biology and history from the University of Minnesota.

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tm/vc/Huspeni in nature 08