Dr. Paul C. Cross

Expertise: disease ecology, ungulates, epidemiological models, hierarchical Bayesian models.

Research Interests: My research integrates field ecology, animal behavior, statistics, mathematical modeling, remote sensing, microbiology, virology and genetics to address wildlife disease, conservation and management issues. No single person can develop the necessary expertise in all of these fields, so I collaborate with a team of academics and managers. There are two central themes in my research: (1) the integration of empirical data and mathematical modeling, and (2) the effects of host behavior and social structure on disease dynamics. Currently, my research focuses on several wildlife disease issues around the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem including brucellosis, chronic wasting disease, canine distemper and sarcoptic mange.

Courses Taught:

• Data Analysis and Multi-level / Hierarchical Modeling in Ecology (1 credit) Fall 2009. Montana State University.
• EcoLunch Seminar (1 credit) Fall 2008. MSU. I initiated this class to provide a venue for graduate students to get practice giving seminars and provide feedback on ongoing projects.
• Plant-Disease Invasion Seminar (informal graduate seminar). Fall 2006. MSU. Compared the approaches of plant and disease ecologists to non-native invasions.
• Wildlife Ecology (4 credits with lab) Spring 2005. Co-Lecturer UC Berkeley.
• Disease Ecology (1 credit) 2004. Co-supervised graduate seminar on disease ecology, UC Berkeley
• Modeling Infectious Disease (1 week short-course) 1999 Univ. of Witwatersrand, South Africa

Featured Articles & Links
Elk Brucellosis Infection may be increasing in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
The challenge of managing disease in wildlife: the case of elk in Yellowstone., 5/12/10 Conservation Maven
New brucellosis ‘hot spots’ found in Yellowstone area., 4/25/10 Helena IR
Brucellosis increasing among some elk., 3/30/10 St. Louis Globe-Democrat