Evolution & Ecology of Infectious Diseases
University of South Florida
Welcome to the Cassin Sackett lab!
Research in our lab centers around the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases in wildlife, with particular focus on introduced diseases. We combine field and lab approaches with genomic and bioinformatic tools to understand evolution in complex disease systems. Current research in the lab occurs in two main systems: 1) avian malaria in Hawaiian honeycreepers and 2) sylvatic plague in prairie dogs. These systems are explored across spatial and phylogenetic scales ranging from microevolution within populations to spatially dynamic communities in metapopulations to multiple species comprising adaptive radiations.
You can follow the lab on Twitter, and check out our latest publications on GoogleScholar and ResearchGate.
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Latest News
Fall 2017: We are looking for a postdoctoral scholar to join the lab to work on evolutionary genomics in prairie dogs. The project combines ancient DNA, field work, genomics lab work and bioinformatic analyses to answer question about evolutionary processes across a continental scale. See more here.
Spring 2017: We are excited to learn that our proposal on malaria transmission across spatial and climatic gradients in Hawaii was funded by NSF through the Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases program. Our lab is collaborating with the labs of Dina Fonseca (Rutgers), Rob Fleischer (Smithsonian National Zoo), Marm Kilpatrick (UC Santa Cruz), Eben Paxton (USGS Pacific Islands Research Center), Nina Fefferman (University of Tennessee), and Jeff Foster (University of New Hampshire).
Winter 2017: In Defense of Science--I stand with other scientists nationwide in expressing my deep concern by the current administration’s move to gag scientists working at various governmental agencies. The US government employs scientists working on medicine, public health, agriculture, energy, space, clean water and air, weather, the climate and many other important areas. Their job is to produce data to inform decisions by policymakers, businesses and individuals. We are all best served by allowing these scientists to discuss their findings openly and without the intrusion of politics. Any attack on their ability to do so is an attack on our ability to make informed decisions as individuals, as communities and as a nation. If you are a government scientist who is blocked from discussing their work, you can email USScienceFacts@gmail.com to have your work shared with the public or the appropriate recipients.
Winter 2016: The Sackett Lab and collaborators are featured in a story in The Garden Isle about Kauai’s endangered birds!
Fall 2016: The Sackett Lab welcomes new undergraduate students at USF! Excited to have Gabrielle Atkinson, Jeanette Calarco, Rebecca Harripersaud and Jeanette Miller join us.
Spring 2017: We are excited to learn that our proposal on malaria transmission across spatial and climatic gradients in Hawaii was funded by NSF through the Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases program. Our lab is collaborating with the labs of Dina Fonseca (Rutgers), Rob Fleischer (Smithsonian National Zoo), Marm Kilpatrick (UC Santa Cruz), Eben Paxton (USGS Pacific Islands Research Center), Nina Fefferman (University of Tennessee), and Jeff Foster (University of New Hampshire).
Winter 2017: In Defense of Science--I stand with other scientists nationwide in expressing my deep concern by the current administration’s move to gag scientists working at various governmental agencies. The US government employs scientists working on medicine, public health, agriculture, energy, space, clean water and air, weather, the climate and many other important areas. Their job is to produce data to inform decisions by policymakers, businesses and individuals. We are all best served by allowing these scientists to discuss their findings openly and without the intrusion of politics. Any attack on their ability to do so is an attack on our ability to make informed decisions as individuals, as communities and as a nation. If you are a government scientist who is blocked from discussing their work, you can email USScienceFacts@gmail.com to have your work shared with the public or the appropriate recipients.
Winter 2016: The Sackett Lab and collaborators are featured in a story in The Garden Isle about Kauai’s endangered birds!
Fall 2016: The Sackett Lab welcomes new undergraduate students at USF! Excited to have Gabrielle Atkinson, Jeanette Calarco, Rebecca Harripersaud and Jeanette Miller join us.
