Staff

SEER Lab has full-time faculty and staff and adjunct faculty providing a wide range of skills in GIS, remote sensing, microbiology, molecular biology, pathogen detection and characterization, laboratory safety, and wildlife ecology.

Faculty

DR. JASON K. BLACKBURN, SEER LAB DIRECTOR, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF MEDICAL GEOGRAPHY IN GLOBAL HEALTH, UNIVERSITY TERM PROFESSOR

Phone: 352-273-9374 EPI; 352-294-7501 Geography

email: jkblackburn@ufl.edu

DR. TED HADFIELD, ADJUNCT PROFESSOR GEOGRAPHY (JOINT WITH EMERGING PATHOGENS INSTITUTE) & COURTESY APPOINTMENT INFECTIOUS DISEASES AND PATHOLOGY AT UF VETMED

email: thadfield@ufl.edu

Research Staff

ANDREW BLUHM, MS, BIOLOGICAL SCIENTIST II (BSL-2/BSL-3 LABORATORIAN/MICROBIOLOGIST)

M.Sc. Microbiology, University of Hawai’i, 2017

B.S. Microbiology, University of California, Davis, 2010

Research interests: pathogensis, microbiology, select agent bacteria, SARS-CoV-2, pathogen evolution

Research and duties: Andy handles much of the day-to-day experiment management for several SEER Lab BSL-2 and BSL-3 pathogens projects. Currently, Andy is working closely with Mike Norris to establish and maintain a viable cell culture collection of SARS-CoV-2 virus for a study of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. treenate jiranantasak, dvm/ms, Postdoctoral Associate

M.Sc. Veterinary Sciences, UF, December 2021

DVM Thailand

Research interests: pathogensis, microbiology, select agent bacteria,

Research and duties: Treenate works across projects in Vietnam with a focus on pathogen detection, diagnostics, sequencing, and characterization. Treenate works on several BSL-3 projects and works day-to-day in the BSL-3 and supports our international work, including travel and lab work in Hanoi.

SEER Lab GIS/Data Technicians

Past Postdoctoral Associates

Samantha Sawyer 2021 – 2022 now faculty at Curry College, MA since August 2022

Jamie Benn 2021 – 2022, now faculty at Texas A&M, Kingsville since Oct 2022

Berzhan Kurmanov 2018 – 2020 now a genomics professional in private industry

Juan Pablo Gomez 2016 – 2018 now on faculty at Departamento de Química y Biología,Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia

Karoun Bagamian 2012 – 2015 now and independent science consultant, analyst, writer

Nathanial Royal 2012 – 2013 now in private industry

Zaurbek Sagivev 2011 – 2012 currently an epidemiologist with Kentucky Department of Health

Jocelyn Mullins 2011 – 2012 currently Epidemiologist and Assistant Professor and Practicum
Coordinator, Online MPH Program, Regis College

Past Staff

Modeline Celestin – Modeline completed a BA in Sustainability Studies with a minor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation from UF in 2019. Modeline worked with Morgan Walker and Jason Blackburn cataloging wildlife data from camera traps that were running in Montana for several years to better understand how ungulates, scavengers, and predators use carcass locations over time from near death to several years post death.

Cody Griffin, MS, GIS Analyst – Spatial Support and spatio-temporal modeling of Georgian Especially Dangerous Pathogens for the DTRA Funded Cooperative Biological Engagement Program through the Academic Engagement Program. Cody is now with the FWRI working on bird ecology.

Catherine Haase, PhD, Spatial Analyst/R Code developer for the DTRA Academic Engagement Program and NIH R01. Dr. Haase is now on faculty at Austin Peay State University.

Kate Ludwig, MS, GIS Analyst – Spatial Support and spatio-temporal modeling of Georgian Especially Dangerous Pathogens for the DTRA Funded Cooperative Biological Engagement Program through the Academic Engagement Program. Kate is currently a field botanist with the NEON Program in the Mountains of Central California.

Maria Uribasterra – Maria completed a BS in Medical Geography in Global Health with a GIS Certificate from UF in 2018. Maria has worked on SEER Lab projects in Montana and Florida, with an emphasis on camera trap data cataloging and animal movement ecology.

Carl Jacobsen – Carl completed an MS in Wildlife and Fisheries Resources from West Virginia University in 2019 with a graduate certificate in GIS and Spatial Analysis. Carl is working with Jason Blackburn on a desert tortoise project modeling survival and movement behaviors of translocated tortoises. This project is in collaboration with Dr. Mary Brown (UF Vet School) and Dr. Jose Miguel Ponciano (UF Biology).

Samuel Canfield – Sam completed and MS in Biology (Conservation Biology concentration) from West Liberty University in 2019. Sam works with Jason Blackburn and Jeremy Orange to map deer data and diagnostics data for CHeRI and works across projects with Jason on modeling anthrax in Kenya and mapping diseases with space-time techinques in Uganda.

Seer Lab