Isabella G. Ragonese
PhD Candidate
University of Georgia | Odum School of Ecology
IDEAS Program Trainee
Advisors: Sonia Altizer, Richard Hall
​Email: isabella.ragonese@uga.edu
​
Welcome! I am a disease ecologist interested in how global change impacts host-parasite interactions. I use a combination of lab/field experiments, mathematical models, and geographic information systems to address questions at multiple ecological scales.
I am particularly interested in infectious diseases of wildlife, with much of my graduate work focused on the interaction between monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) and their protozoan parasite (Ophryocystis elektroscirrha).
Research Interests
How do species responses to climate warming affect infection outcomes?
Scaling from within-host processes up to landscape level patterns of infection, I examine the responses of monarchs, their protozoan parasite (OE), and milkweed host plants to temperature. The goal is to improve predictions of climate warming impacts on infectious diseases, espcially those affecting insects.
I take both empirical and species distrubution modeling approaches to assess how net infection outcomes depend on responses of the individual species.
​
​
Outside of the monarch system, I use a compartmental modeling approach to assess how phenological responses to warming might be important for predicting future infection dynamics.
