Kezia Manlove

I apply quantitative and computational techniques to investigate the interplay between host behaviors and pathogen establishment and persistence in wildlife populations.  My technical background is statistical and mathematical; my primary study system is pneumonia dynamics in bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), under the supervision of Peter Hudson.  Additionally, I collaborate on projects related to brucellosis transmission in elk (with Paul Cross, USGS), and Hendra virus dynamics in Australian flying foxes (with Raina Plowright, PSU). 

My current field work is an intensive observational study of lamb pneumonia epidemics in the Hells Canyon region of ID, WA, and OR.  The primary objective of this project is to estimate the contribution of host contact patterns to the odds that a given host develops disease.  Additionally, the resulting field data will be used to estimate critical epidemiological rates, such as disease incubation period, proportion of adults harboring pathogens, mortality rates among symptomatic lambs, etc.  Field work is being carried out under the guidance of Frances Cassirer (IDFG research biologist), who coordinates a long-term study on pneumonia in Hells Canyon.

Ongoing analytical projects consist of a detailed investigation of how information on individual frailties can be leveraged to expand our knowledge of a disease process, and a simulation study exploring linkages between within-host disease pneumonia progressions and population-level survival rates.  

My statistical interests include data display, survival analysis (particularly semiparametric and nonparametric approaches), mixed effects modeling, and resampling methodologies.