Strauss Lab at UGA

Welcome to the Strauss lab at UGA. We study the ecological drivers of infectious disease, and reciprocally, the impacts of disease on ecological communities and ecosystems. We are especially interested in roles of parasites and pathogens in the context of global changes including biodiversity loss, climate change, and environmental eutrophication. We work in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, using a combination of observational, experimental, and mathematical approaches. In lakes and ponds, we focus on communities of zooplankton and their parasites, resources, and predators. In grassland ecosystems, we focus on communities of plants and their pathogens, mutualists, and consumers.