As an undergraduate, I was inspired by parasitologist Clark P. Read to think about the ecology and evolution of parasites in new ways. I was especially excited to learn that parasites affected animal behavior, another favorite subject area. Most biologists outside the world of parasitology were not interested in parasites; they were relegated to a nether world someplace between the biology of free-living organisms and medicine. After peregrination through more than one graduate program, I completed my PhD studying parasites and behavior at the University of New Mexico. I did postdoctoral work on parasite community ecology with Dan Simberloff at Florida State University, and then accepted a faculty position at Colorado State University, where I have remained since 1983. I am currently a Professor in the Department of Biology where I teach courses in invertebrate zoology, animal behavior, and history of medicine. I study a variety of aspects of parasite ecology and host behavior ranging from behavioral fever and transmission behavior to the ecology of introduced parasite species.
