Michael Buhnerkempe

Title

Postdoctoral Researcher
UCLA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Education

PhD, Zoology, Colorado State University
M.S., Statistics, Colorado State University
B.S., Integrative Biology and Statistics, University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign

Office

4000 Terasaki Life Sciences Building
(310) 206-8203

Email

michael.buhnerkempe@ucla.edu

Personal website

Broadly, my research encompasses three areas: disease ecology, population dynamics, and conservation biology. In particular, I study the impacts of infectious diseases on wildlife and livestock populations. My research program makes use of a variety of mathematical and statistical approaches combined with empirical data to study complexities that underlie disease dynamics. The questions I focus on include: 1) What are the ecological mechanisms (e.g., spatial and age structure) that allow for pathogen persistence in populations, particularly in reference to highly virulent pathogens that cause high mortality in their hosts? 2) How do host mixing patterns and vector dynamics affect disease transmission and spread? 3) How do ecological feedbacks affect coevolution of pathogen virulence and host resistance? 4) What control strategies are most effective at reducing disease burden in natural and livestock populations?

Buhnerkempe, M., R. Eisen, B. Goodell, K. Gage, M. Antolin, and C. Webb. 2011. Transmission shifts underlie variability in population responses to Yersinia pestis infection. PLoS ONE 6(7): e22498. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0022498.

Buhnerkempe, M., N. Burch, S. Hamilton, K.M. Byrne, E. Childers, K.A. Holfelder, L.N. McManus, M.I. Pyne, G. Schroeder, and P.F. Doherty. 2011. The utility of transient sensitivity for wildlife management and conservation: Bison as a case study. Biological Conservation 144: 1808-1815. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2011.03.012.

Pyne, M.I., K.M. Byrne, K.A. Holfelder, L. McManus, M. Buhnerkempe, N. Burch, E. Childers, S. Hamilton, G. Schroeder, and P.F. Doherty Jr. 2010. Survival and breeding transitions for a reintroduced bison population: a multi-state approach. Journal of Wildlife Management. 74: 1463-1471.

Buhnerkempe, M.G., D.A. Grear, K. Portacci, R.S. Miller, J.E. Lombard, and C.T. Webb. In press. A national-scale picture of U.S. cattle movements obtained from Interstate Certificate of Veterinary Inspection data. Preventive Veterinary Medicine.

Portacci, K., R.S. Miller, P.D. Riggs, M.G. Buhnerkempe, and L.M. Abrahamsen. 2013. Assessment of paper interstate certificates of veterinary inspection to support disease tracing in cattle. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 243: 555-560.

Lindström, T., D. Grear, M. Buhnerkempe, C. Webb, R. Miller, K. Portacci, and U. Wennergren. 2013. A Bayesian approach for modeling cattle movements in the United States: scaling up a partially observed network. PLoS ONE 8(1): e53432. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0053432.

Buhnerkempe, M., R. Eisen, B. Goodell, K. Gage, M. Antolin, and C. Webb. 2011. Transmission shifts underlie variability in population responses to Yersinia pestis infection. PLoS ONE 6(7): e22498. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0022498.