Dr Meggan Craft


Dr Meggan Craft

NSF International Research Fellow

Graham Kerr Building,
Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health & Comparative Medicine
College of Medicine, Veterinary & Life Sciences
University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ.

Tel.: +44 (0)141 330 2429
Fax: +44 (0)141 330 5971
Email: meggan.craft@gmail.com


Academic History

Academic History

2009-present: Honorary Research Associate, Boyd Orr Centre for Population and Ecosystem Health, University of Glasgow
2008-2009: Post Doctoral Research Associate, University of Texas, Austin
2006-present: MPH (Epidemiology) University of Minnesota
2003-2008: Ph.D. (Ecology, Evolution & Behavior) University of Minnesota
1994-1997: B.A. (Biology), Brown University, Magna Cum Laude

Research Interests


Research Interests

  • Animal behavior and movement
  • Disease dynamics and persistence
  • Food security
  • Infectious disease models
  • Multihost diseases
  • Social structure and disease dynamics
  • Zoonoses

My research takes a multidisciplinary approach that uses methods from epidemiology, ecology, animal behavior and mathematics to investigate disease dynamics in animal populations. I combine empirical data from my fieldwork with theoretical models to explore multi-host pathogen dynamics and persistence. I am broadly interested in questions such as:

  1. How are pathogens maintained in a multi-host ecosystem?
  2. How does social structure influence disease spread?
  3. What are effective intervention strategies (if any)?

My research currently uses canine distemper virus, rabies, and parvovirus as case studies of multi-host pathogens and feline immunodeficiency virus as an example of a single-host pathogen. I have focused on African carnivores in the Serengeti ecosystem (Tanzania), however I am interested in expanding to other systems, such as infectious disease threats to food security.


Publications

  • Troyer, J.L., M. E. Roelke, J.M. Jespersen, N. Baggett, V. Buckley-Beason, D. McNulty, M.E. Craft, C. Packer, J. Pecon-Slattery, & S. J. O'Brien. (in press) FIV evolution, diversity, and dynamics; examples from the wild. Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology.
  • M.E. Craft and D. Caillaud (2011) Network models: an underutilized tool in wildlife epidemiology? Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Infectious Diseases, vol. 2011, Article ID 676949 doi:10.1155/2011/676949.
  • M.E. Craft, E. Volz, C. Packer & L.A. Meyers. (2011) Disease transmission in territorial populations: the small-world network of Serengeti lions. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 8, 776-786 doi:10.1098/​rsif.2010.0511.
  • Durant, S., M.E. Craft, C. Foley, K. Hampson, A. Lobora, M. Msuha, E. Ernest, B. John, J. Mchetto & N. Pettorelli. (2010) Does size matter? An investigation of habitat use across a carnivore assemblage in the Serengeti, Tanzania. Journal of Animal Ecology, 79, 1012-1022 doi:10.1111/j.1365-2656.2010.01717.x.
  • Craft, M.E. (2010) Ecology of infectious diseases in Serengeti lions. In: Biology and Conservation of Wild Felids (Eds. Macdonald, D.W. & A. Loveridge), Oxford University Press, Oxford, 263-281.
  • Craft, M.E., E. Volz, C. Packer & L.A. Meyers. (2009) Distinguishing epidemic waves from disease spillover in a wildlife population. Proc. R. Soc. B, doi:10.1098/rspb.2008.1636. (ProcRSoc pdf)
  • Cleaveland, S., C. Packer, K. Hampson, M. Kaare, R. Kock, M. Craft, T. Lembo, T. Mlengeya & A. Dobson. (2008) The multiple roles of infectious diseases in the Serengeti ecosystem. In: Serengeti III: Human Impacts on Ecosystem Dynamics (Eds. Sinclair, A.R.E., C. Packer, S. Mduma, & J. Fryxell), Chicago University press, Chicago, 209-239.
  • Craft, M.E.*, P. L. Hawthorne, C. Packer & A. P. Dobson. (2008) Dynamics of a multi-host pathogen in a carnivore community. Journal of Animal Ecology, 77, 1257-1264. (JAE pdf)
    * Awarded Journal of Animal Ecology's best paper by a young author (2008)
  • Lembo, T., K. Hampson, D. Haydon, M. Craft, A. Dobson, J. Dushoff, E. Ernest, R. Hoare, M. Kaare, T. Mlengeya,  C. Mentzel & S. Cleaveland. (2008) Exploring reservoir dynamics: a case study of rabies in the Serengeti ecosystem. Journal of Applied Ecology, 45, 1246-1257. (Lembo pdf)
  • Craft, M.E.  (2007) Capture and rapid handling of jackals (Canis mesomelas and Canis adustus) without chemical immobilization. African Journal of Ecology, 46, 2, 214-216. (AJE pdf)

Articles highlighting my work

  • Haydon, D.T. (2008) Cross-disciplinary demands of multihost pathogens. Journal of Animal Ecology, 77, 1079-1081. (Haydon pdf)