Next Friday, November 15, another session of “Ocean Break – CESAM’s Seminar Series in Marine Sciences” will take place

This time, in celebration of National Marine Day (November 16), the Ocean Break will be held at ECOMARE.

15th November 2024 | 13:00 – 14:00 | ECOMARE

Katrina Lohan  (Smithsonian Environmental Research Centre)

Drivers Altering Host-Parasite Interactions in Coastal Ecosystems 

Parasitism refers to a complicated relationship between two organisms, where one benefits and the other is harmed. In the Coastal Disease Ecology Lab at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, our research is at the intersection of disease and parasite ecology, where we use utilize a variety of genetic and genomic tools to examine multi-parasite and multi-host systems across a range of habitats, hosts, and geographic regions. Our research is captured in four major themes. For Theme #1 “Parasite Biogeography: Shifting Baselines”, we examine how humans spread parasites around the world and the biogeographic patterns of parasites to elucidate mechanisms of spread. For Theme #2 “Parasite Diversity and Foundation Species”, we explore the diversity of parasites that infection foundation species, namely oysters and seagrasses, across broad geographic scales. For Theme #3 “Parasites in Trophic Interactions”, we examine the role of parasites in predator-prey interactions and their role in the transfer of energy through food webs. Finally, in Theme #4 “OneHealth in the Coastal Zone”, we examine the environmental epidemiology of zoonotic pathogens, particularly in relation to urbanization, within coastal waters.