Postdoctoral Researcher– Quantitative Ecology, Human-Wildlife Interactions & SARS-CoV-2

The URBANxNATURE Lab at the University of Maryland is searching for a highly motivated and talented individual to work as a postdoctoral researcher on a project studying human-wildlife interactions with an eye towards SARS-Cov-2 and other disease transmission. Multiple studies have identified SARS-CoV-2 infections in white-tailed deer making deer a species of interest in understanding spillover risk between humans and wildlife. The potential for human-deer interactions is greatest in urban and suburban areas, due to higher human population numbers and increased densities of deer. Therefore, urban deer serve as a specific species of concern for the spread of SARS-CoV-2 between humans and animals. To better understand potential interactions between humans and deer, we will use passive sampling techniques (camera traps) and human mobility data (e.g., SafeGraph) to quantify the rates of co-occurrence between deer and humans at specific locations across multiple US cities. This project will leverage publicly available, aggregated human mobility data and deer observation data from a multi-city camera trapping network – The Urban Wildlife Information Network (UWIN) – to formulate human-deer interaction models to estimate the probability of spatio-temporal overlap of deer and humans and predict the risk of potential disease spread. Full details are here: https://urbanxnaturelab.com/Postdoc_Announcement_2022.pdf