Johanna A. Harvey, PhD
Assistant Professor of Wildlife Disease Ecology (she/her) · Department of Natural Resources Science
Johanna is a broadly trained evolutionary ecologist working on wildlife disease ecology, immunogenetics, and conservation and management science. Her research addresses emergent pathogens such as highly pathogenic avian influenza alongside co-evolved pathogens including avian malaria parasites and vampire flies, with the goal of understanding how wild bird populations respond, and how that understanding can be applied to conservation.
She received her PhD in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from Texas A&M University, studying avian malaria diversification. She then held a postdoctoral position with Dr. Sarah Knutie at the University of Connecticut examining urbanization and the invasive parasite Philornis downsi in Darwin’s finches in the Galápagos, followed by a Gerstner Scholar Fellowship at the American Museum of Natural History studying avian malaria and range shifts across latitudes with Dr. Susan Perkins. Before joining URI she was a jointly appointed postdoctoral researcher at the University of Maryland and the USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center, within the Disease Decision Analysis and Research group with Drs. Diann Prosser and Jennifer Mullinax.
Johanna considers herself fortunate to have found science. As a young adult, mentors opened up a world she did not know existed; she now works to provide those same opportunities to others and to build a more inclusive environment in ecology and evolutionary biology.
Outside the lab: reading fantasy, hiking, gardening, textile crafts, swimming, and spending time with her partner and their golden retriever.
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