Disease Ecology Journal Club

0-1 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

Disease ecology integrates ecological principles with epidemiological theory to understand how environmental factors, host behavior, and population structure, and pathogen characteristics interact to drive disease dynamics in natural populations. Mathematical and computational modeling approaches have become essential tools for predicting disease emergence, evaluating intervention strategies, and testing ecological hypotheses about host-pathogen systems across scales from individuals to ecosystems. This rapidly evolving field requires researchers to synthesize knowledge from ecology, epidemiology, evolution, mathematics, and public health—making it ideally suited for collaborative, interdisciplinary discussion. This journal club embraces an informal, multidisciplinary approach designed to build community while advancing scientific understanding. Following principles established for successful interdisciplinary journal clubs, we prioritize creating "a safe environment where everyone feels comfortable asking questions when they don't understand, and others flex their teaching skills by answering these questions" [Lonsdale et al, 2016].