Title
Project Scientist & Lecturer
ddaversa@gmail.com
ddaversa@ioes.ucla.edu
Website
La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science
Research Interests
My research investigates the sublethal effects of pathogens. Beyond causing lethal diseases, pathogens are sources of stress: they elicit a range of sublethal, yet costly behavioral and physiological changes in hosts that can progressively degrade health and fitness. How do pathogen sublethal effects factor into disease dynamics and the resilience of host populations to pathogen invasions?
I have been exploring this question through field, experimental, and genomics research on amphibians and the fungal pathogen that threatens them, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). My field and experimental work with newts has documented sublethal effects of Bd on newt habitat use, and studying endangered Yosemite toads (Anaxyrus canorus) has produced evidence that Bd is a source of early life stress. My current research investigates epigenetic changes associated with sublethal stress to better understand its downstream impacts to individual and population health.
Publications
A complete list can be found on my google scholar page