Ellen Martinsen

Dr. Ellen Martinsen is a biologist with research interests in host-parasite ecology and evolution, wildlife disease, and conservation. She is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at UVM and a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Center for Conservation Genomics. She has investigated the diversity and distribution of malaria parasites in various bird, mammal, and mosquito (vector) communities worldwide. Along the way she has discovered numerous new parasite species and host-parasite associations, endemic New World mammalian malaria parasites, and lots of host switching. Through broad collaboration and the integration of field, microscopy, and genetic methods, she has pursued the study of pathogen spillover into naive host taxa including collection animals at zoological parks, host species of conservation concern, and non-adapted wildlife species at northern latitudes.

May 2021