Felicia Keesing

Keesing received her B.S. in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University in 1987 and her Ph.D. in Integrative Biology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1997.{{citation needed|date=July 2022|reason=Citation is needed for the exact years}}

Keesing's research focuses on the consequences of human impacts, particularly biodiversity loss, for ecological communities. In Kenya, she has studied how the experimental absence of large mammals like giraffes and elephants affects savanna ecology, in particular the rodent community.{{cite journal |last1=Keesing|first1=Felicia |title=Cryptic consumers and the ecology of an African savanna. |journal=BioScience |date=2000 |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=205–215|doi=10.1641/0006-3568(2000)050[0205:CCATEO]2.3.CO;2 |s2cid=53000884 |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Keesing|first1=Felicia |last2=Young|first2=Truman P.|title=Cascading consequences of the loss of large mammals in an African savanna. |journal=BioScience |date=2014 |volume=64 |issue=6 |pages=487–495|doi=10.1093/biosci/biu059 |doi-access=free }} She and Richard Ostfeld pioneered research on the ecology of Lyme disease, in particular how human risk for Lyme disease is affected by forest fragmentation and the loss of biodiversity.{{cite journal |last1=Keesing|first1=Felicia |last2=Ostfeld|first2=Richard S.|title=Biodiversity series: the function of biodiversity in the ecology of vector-borne zoonotic diseases. |journal=Canadian Journal of Zoology |date=2000 |volume=78 |issue=12 |pages=2061–2078|doi=10.1139/z00-172 }} She and Ostfeld also developed core ideas about the general relationship between biodiversity loss and the emergence and transmission of infectious diseases,{{cite journal |last1=Keesing|first1=Felicia |last2=Ostfeld|first2=Richard S.|title=Impacts of biodiversity and biodiversity loss on zoonotic diseases. |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=2021 |volume=118 |issue=17 |pages=e2023540118|doi=10.1073/pnas.2023540118 |pmid=33820825 |pmc=8092607 |bibcode=2021PNAS..11823540K |doi-access=free }} and a conceptual model of the effects of pulsed resources on ecological communities.{{cite journal |last1=Keesing|first1=Felicia |last2=Ostfeld|first2=Richard S.|title=Pulsed resources and community dynamics of consumers in terrestrial ecosystems. |journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution |date=2000 |volume=15 |issue=6 |pages=232–237|doi=10.1016/S0169-5347(00)01862-0 |pmid=10802548 }}

From 2016 to 2021, she and Ostfeld co-directed the Tick Project, a study to test whether environmental interventions could prevent Lyme and other tick-borne diseases in residential neighborhoods of Dutchess County, New York.{{cite journal | last1 = Keesing | first1 = F. | last2 = Mowry | first2 = S. | last3 = Bremer | first3 = W. | last4 = Duerr | first4 = S. | last5 = Evans Jr. | first5 = A.S. | last6 = Fischhoff | first6 = I. | last7 = Hinckley | first7 = A.F. | last8 = Hook | first8 = S.A. | last9 = Keating | first9 = F. | last10 = Pendleton | first10 = J. | last11 = Pfister | first11 = A. | last12 = Teator | first12 = M. | last13 = Ostfeld | first13 = R.S. |title=Effects of Tick-Control Interventions on Tick Abundance, Human Encounters with Ticks, and Incidence of Tickborne Diseases in Residential Neighborhoods. |journal=Emerging Infectious Diseases |date=2022 |volume=28 |issue=5 |pages=957–966| doi = 10.3201/eid2805.211146 | pmid = 35447066 | pmc = 9045441 }}

Keesing's recent research in Kenya focuses on the ecological, economic, and social consequences of managing land in Laikipia County, Kenya for livestock, wildlife, or both.{{cite journal | last1 = Keesing | first1 = F. | last2 = Ostfeld | first2 = R.S. | last3 = Okanga | first3 = S. | last4 = Huckett | first4 = S. | last5 = Bayles | first5 = B.R. | last6 = Chaplin-Kramer | first6 = R. | last7 = Fredericks | first7 = L.P. | last8 = Hedlund | first8 = T. | last9 = Kowal | first9 = V. | last10 = Tallis | first10 = H. | last11 = Warui | first11 = C.M. | last12 = Wood | first12 = S.A. | last13 = Allan | first13 = B.F. |title=Consequences of integrating livestock and wildlife in an African savanna. |journal=Nature Sustainability |date=2018 |volume=1 |issue=10 |pages=566–573| doi = 10.1038/s41893-018-0149-2 | bibcode = 2018NatSu...1..566K | s2cid = 134201534 }}

In 2009, she served on the steering committee for the Vision and Change{{Cite web|url=https://visionandchange.org/advisory-board/|title=Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education » Advisory Board}} initiative to reform the teaching of undergraduate biology, and from 2012 to 2017, with funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, she directed a project on science literacy for college students. In 2017, she led the development of the curriculum for the Citizen Science program{{Cite web|url=https://www.bard.edu/news/details/?id=17607&prefurl=felicia-keesing-among-leading-scientists-featured-in-sir-david-attenboroughs-documentary-on-extinction-03-29|title=Bard Biology Professor Felicia Keesing Among Leading Scientists Featured in Sir David Attenborough's Documentary EXTINCTION – THE FACTS, Which Debuts on PBS March 31|first=Bard Public|last=Relations|website=www.bard.edu}} at Bard College.

Keesing received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 1999. She is a fellow of the Ecological Society of America (2019){{cite web | url=https://www.esa.org/about/awards/fellows-program/esa-fellows/ | title=ESA Fellows – the Ecological Society of America }} and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2021).{{cite web | url=https://www.aaas.org/fellows | title=AAAS Honorary Fellows | American Association for the Advancement of Science }} In 2022, she was awarded the International Cosmos Prize.{{cite web | url=https://www.expo-cosmos.or.jp/english/cosmos/jyusyou/ | title=International Cosmos Prizewinners}} Keesing was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2023,{{Cite web |title=All Fellows – John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation… |url=https://www.gf.org/all-fellows/ |access-date=2024-06-17 |language=en}} and received the C. Hart Merriam award from the American Society of Mammalogists in 2024 in recognition of "outstanding research in mammalogy over a period of at least 10 years".

• {{Cite journal

| last1 = Keesing | first1 = F.

| title = Cryptic consumers and the ecology of an African savanna

| journal = BioScience

| volume = 50

| pages = 205–215

| year = 2000

| issue = 3

| doi = 10.1641/0006-3568(2000)050[0205:CCATEO]2.3.CO;2

| s2cid = 53000884

|ref=none| doi-access = free

}}

• {{Cite journal

| last1 = Ostfeld | first1 = R.S.

| last2 = Keesing | first2 = F.

| title = Biodiversity and disease risk: the case of Lyme disease

| journal = Conservation Biology

| volume = 14

| issue = 3

| pages = 1–7

| year = 2000

| doi = 10.1046/j.1523-1739.2000.99014.x

| bibcode = 2000ConBi..14..722O

| s2cid = 3918917

|ref=none}}

• {{Cite journal

| last1 = Ostfeld | first1 = R.S.

| last2 = Keesing | first2 = F.

| title = Pulsed resources and generalist consumers

| journal = Trends in Ecology and Evolution

| volume = 15

| pages = 232–237

| year = 2000

| issue = 6

| doi = 10.1016/S0169-5347(00)01862-0

| pmid = 10802548

|ref=none}}

• {{Cite journal

| last1 = Ostfeld | first1 = R.S.

| last2 = Keesing | first2 = F.

| title = The function of biodiversity in the ecology of vector-borne zoonotic diseases

| journal = Canadian Journal of Zoology

| volume = 78

| pages = 2061–2078

| year = 2000

| doi = 10.1139/z00-172

|ref=none}}

• {{Cite journal

| last1 = Allan| first1 = B.F.

| last2 = Ostfeld | first2 = R.S.

| last3 = Keesing | first3 = F.

| title = The effect of habitat fragmentation on Lyme disease risk

| journal = Conservation Biology

| volume = 17

| pages = 267–272

| year = 2003

| doi = 10.1046/j.1523-1739.2003.01260.x

| s2cid = 34910516

|ref=none}}

• {{Cite journal

| last1 = LoGiudice | first1 = K.

| last2 = Ostfeld | first2 = R.S.

| last3 = Schmidt | first3 = K.

| last4 = Keesing | first4 = F.

| title = The ecology of infectious disease: Effects of host diversity and community composition on Lyme disease risk

| journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

| volume = 100

| pages = 567–571

| year = 2003

| issue = 2

| doi = 10.1073/pnas.0233733100

| pmid = 12525705

| pmc = 141036

|ref=none| doi-access = free

}}

• {{Cite journal

| last1 = Ostfeld | first1 = R.S.

| last2 = Glass | first2 = G.E.

| last3 = Keesing | first3 = F.

| title = Spatial epidemiology: an emerging (or re-emerging discipline)

| journal = Trends in Ecology and Evolution

| volume = 20

| pages = 328–336

| year = 2005

| issue = 6

| doi = 10.1016/j.tree.2005.03.009

| pmid = 16701389

|ref=none}}

• {{Cite journal

| last1 = Keesing | first1 = F.

| last2 = Holt | first2 = R.D.

| last3 = Ostfeld | first3 = R.S.

| title = Effects of species diversity on disease risk

| journal = Ecology Letters

| volume = 9

| pages = 485–498

| year = 2006

| issue = 4

| doi = 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2006.00885.x

| pmid = 16623733

| bibcode = 2006EcolL...9..485K

|ref=none}}

• {{Cite journal

| last1 = Ostfeld | first1 = R.S.

| last2 = Canham | first2 = C.D.

| last3 = Oggenfuss | first3 = K.

| last4 = Winchcombe| first4 = R.J.

| last5 = Keesing | first5 = F.

| title = Climate, deer, rodents, and acorns as determinants of variation in Lyme-disease risk

| journal = PLOS Biology

| volume = 4

| issue = 6

| pages = e145

| year = 2006

| doi = 10.1371/journal.pbio.0040145

| pmid = 16669698

| pmc = 1457019

|ref=none

| doi-access = free

}}

• {{Cite book

| last1 = Ostfeld | first1 = R.S.

| last2 = Keesing | first2 = F.

| last3 = Eviner | first3 = V.T.

| title = Infectious Disease Ecology: Effects of Ecosystems on Disease and of Disease on Ecosystems

| publisher = Princeton University Press

| year = 2008

|ref=none}}

• {{Cite journal

| last1 = Keesing | first1 = F.

| last2 = Belden | first2 = L.

| last3 = Daszak | first3 = P.

| last4 = Dobson | first4 = A.

| last5 = Harvell | first5 = D.

| last6 = Holt | first6 = R.D.

| last7 = Hudson | first7 = P.

| last8 = Jolles | first8 = A.

| last9 = Jones | first9 = K.

| last10 = Mitchell | first10 = C.

| last11 = Myers | first11 = S.

| last12 = Bogich | first12 = T.

| last13 = Ostfeld | first13 = R.

| title = Impacts of biodiversity on the emergence and transmission of infectious diseases

| journal = Nature

| volume = 468

| pages = 647–652

| year = 2010

| issue = 7324

| doi = 10.1038/nature09575

| pmid = 21124449

| pmc = 7094913

| bibcode = 2010Natur.468..647K

|ref=none}}

• {{Cite journal

| last1 = Ogada | first1 = D.

| last2 = Keesing | first2 = F.

| last3 = Virani | first3 = M.

| title = Dropping dead: causes and consequences of vulture population declines worldwide

| journal = Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

| volume = 1249

| issue = 1

| pages = 57–71

| year = 2012

| doi = 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06293.x

| pmid = 22175274

| bibcode = 2012NYASA1249...57O

| s2cid = 23734331

|ref=none}}

• {{Cite journal

| last1 = Keesing | first1 = F.

| last2 = Young | first2 = T.P.

| title = Cascading consequences of the loss of large mammals in an African savanna

| journal = BioScience

| volume = 64

| pages = 487–495

| year = 2014

| issue = 6

| doi = 10.1093/biosci/biu059

|ref=none| doi-access = free}}

• {{Cite journal

| last1 = Ostfeld | first1 = R.S.

| last2 = Levi | first2 = T.

| last3 = Jolles | first3 = A.E.

| last4 = Martin | first4 = L.B.

| last5 = Hosseini | first5 = P.R.

| last6 = Keesing| first6 = F.

| title = Life history and demographic drivers of reservoir competence for three tick-borne zoonotic pathogens

| journal = PLOS ONE

| volume = 9

| issue = 9

| pages = e107387

| year = 2014

| doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0107387

| pmid = 25232722

| pmc = 4169396

| bibcode = 2014PLoSO...9j7387O

|ref=none| doi-access = free

}}

• {{Cite journal

| last1 = Keesing | first1 = F.

| last2 = Ostfeld | first2 = R.S.

| title = Is biodiversity good for your health?

| journal = Science

| volume = 349

| pages = 235–236

| year = 2015

| issue = 6245

| doi = 10.1126/science.aac7892

| pmid = 26185230

| bibcode = 2015Sci...349..235K

| s2cid = 206640473

|ref=none}}

• {{Cite journal

| last1 = Ostfeld | first1 = R.S.

| last2 = Levi | first2 = T.

| last3 = Keesing | first3 = F.

| last4 = Oggenfuss | first4 = K.

| last5 = Canham | first5 = C.D.

| title = Tick-borne disease risk in a forest food web

| journal = Ecology

| volume = 99

| pages = 1562–1573

| year = 2018

| issue = 7

| doi = 10.1002/ecy.2386

| pmid = 29738078

| bibcode = 2018Ecol...99.1562O

| s2cid = 13684579

|ref=none}}

• {{Cite journal

| last1 = Keesing | first1 = F.

| last2 = Ostfeld | first2 = R.S.

| last3 = Okanga | first3 = S.

| last4 = Huckett | first4 = S.

| last5 = Bayles | first5 = B.R.

| last6 = Chaplin-Kramer | first6 = R.

| last7 = Fredericks | first7 = L.P.

| last8 = Hedlund | first8 = T.

| last9 = Kowal | first9 = V.

| last10 = Tallis | first10 = H.

| last11 = Warui | first11 = C.M.

| last12 = Wood | first12 = S.A.

| last13 = Allan | first13 = B.F.

| title = Consequences of integrating livestock and wildlife in an African savanna

| journal = Nature Sustainability

| volume = 1

| pages = 566–573

| year = 2018

| issue = 10

| doi = 10.1038/s41893-018-0149-2

| bibcode = 2018NatSu...1..566K

| s2cid = 134201534

|ref=none}}

• {{Cite journal

| last1 = Keesing | first1 = F.

| last2 = Ostfeld | first2 = R.S.

| title = Impacts of biodiversity and biodiversity loss on zoonotic diseases

| journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

| volume = 118

| issue = 17

| pages = e2023540118

| year = 2021

| doi = 10.1073/pnas.2023540118

| pmid = 33820825

| pmc = 8092607

| bibcode = 2021PNAS..11823540K

|ref=none| doi-access = free

}}

• {{Cite journal

| last1 = Bahl | first1 = R.

| last2 = Eikmeier | first2 = N.

| last3 = Fraser | first3 = A.

| last4 = Junge | first4 = M.

| last5 = Keesing | first5 = F.

| last6 = Nakahata | first6 = K.

| last7 = Reeves | first7 = L.

| title = Modeling COVID-19 spread in small colleges

| journal = PLOS ONE

| volume = 16

| issue = 8

| pages = e0255654

| year = 2021

| doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0255654

| pmid = 34407115

| pmc = 8372956

| arxiv = 2008.09597

| bibcode = 2021PLoSO..1655654B

|ref=none| doi-access = free

}}

• {{Cite journal

| last1 = Keesing | first1 = F.

| last2 = Ostfeld | first2 = R.S.

| title = Dilution effects in disease ecology

| journal = Ecology Letters

| volume = 24

| pages = 2490–2505

| year = 2021

| issue = 11

| doi = 10.1111/ele.13875

| pmid = 34482609

| pmc = 9291114

| bibcode = 2021EcolL..24.2490K

| s2cid = 237423713

|ref=none}}

• {{Cite journal

| last1 = Keesing | first1 = F.

| last2 = Mowry | first2 = S.

| last3 = Bremer | first3 = W.

| last4 = Duerr | first4 = S.

| last5 = Evans Jr. | first5 = A.S.

| last6 = Fischhoff | first6 = I.

| last7 = Hinckley | first7 = A.F.

| last8 = Hook | first8 = S.A.

| last9 = Keating | first9 = F.

| last10 = Pendleton | first10 = J.

| last11 = Pfister | first11 = A.

| last12 = Teator | first12 = M.

| last13 = Ostfeld | first13 = R.S.

| title = Effects of tick-control interventions on tick abundance, human encounters with ticks, and incidence of tick-borne diseases in residential neighborhoods

| journal = Emerging Infectious Diseases

| volume = 28

| pages = 957–966

| year = 2022

| issue = 5

| doi = 10.3201/eid2805.211146

| pmid = 35447066

| pmc = 9045441

|ref=none}}

{{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Keesing, Felicia}}

Category:Living people

Category:Bard College faculty

Category:Stanford University alumni

Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni

Category:1966 births

Category:American Association for the Advancement of Science

Category:American ecologists

Category:Fellows of the Ecological Society of America

Category:Recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers