Bruce Noden

Impact of ecological and environmental factors on arthropod vector populations and the pathogens they transmit.

Current projects involve:

1. Ticks and tick-borne pathogens
- Assessment of ecological and environmental factors involved in the increase of tick-borne diseases cases in Oklahoma.
- Relationships between increasing woody plant encroachment, tick diversity and abundance, and microorganisms in the Great Plain region of the US and globally.
- Ecological assessment of tick populations in pasture systems across Oklahoma.
- Developing low-costs molecular diagnostic tools for vector-borne diseases

2. Mosquitoes and mosquito-borne pathogens
- Surveillance and ecology of arbovirus vectors in Oklahoma
- Relationships between increasing woody plant encroachment and mosquito communities in the Great Plains region.

3. Fleas and flea-borne pathogens
- Role of domestic and feral animals on epidemiology of Bartonella and Rickettsia species in the southern Great Plains.