Richard S. Ostfeld

Ostfeld received his B.A. in biology at the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1979 and his PhD in zoology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1985. From 1986 to 1989, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Boston University, and he has been a scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies since 1990.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}

Ostfeld's research centers on the ecology of infectious diseases. His work on Lyme disease has focused on how ecological processes (e.g. the masting of oak trees, predation) affect the probability that a tick will become infected with the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. He also studies the ecology of other tick-borne diseases, including babesiosis, anaplasmosis, and Powassan viral encephalitis. From 2016 to 2021, Ostfeld co-directed the Tick Project with Felicia Keesing to test whether environmental interventions could prevent Lyme and other tick-borne diseases for people living 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 |first5=A |last6=Fischhoff |first6=I |last7=Hinckley |first7=A |last8=Hook |first8=S |last9=Keating |first9=F |last10=Pendleton |first10=J |last11=Pfister |first11=A |last12=Teator |first12=M |last13=Ostfeld |first13=RS |title=Effects of Tick-Control Interventions on Tick Abundance, Human Encounters with Ticks, and Incidence of Tickborne Diseases in Residential Neighborhoods, New York, USA – Volume 28, Number 5 – May 2022 – Emerging Infectious Diseases journal – CDC |journal=Emerging Infectious Diseases |date=2022 |volume=28 |issue=5 |pages=957–966 |doi=10.3201/eid2805.211146|pmid=35447066 |pmc=9045441 }}

His work falls into three main areas, all of which center on how the basic biology of ecological systems is affected by human impacts, such as biodiversity loss and climate change. First, he studies the effects of environmental variables on tick survival, behavior, and population performance to understand how risk for Lyme and other tick-borne diseases is changing as the climate warms.{{cite journal |last1=Levi |first1=T |last2=Keesing |first2=F |last3=Oggenfuss |first3=K |last4=Ostfeld |first4=RS |title=Accelerated phenology of blacklegged ticks under climate warming |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |date=April 5, 2015 |volume=370 |issue=1665 |pages=20130556 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2013.0556|pmid=25688016 |pmc=4342961 |s2cid=9341602 }} He has also studied how climate change affects infectious diseases at a global scale.{{cite journal |last1=Harvell |first1=CD |last2=Mitchell |first2=CE |last3=Ward |first3=JR |last4=Altizer |first4=S |last5=Dobson |first5=AP |last6=Ostfeld |first6=RS |last7=Samuel |first7=MD |title=Climate Warming and Disease Risks for Terrestrial and Marine Biota |journal=Science |date=June 21, 2002 |volume=296 |issue=5576 |pages=2158–2162 |doi=10.1126/science.1063699|pmid=12077394 |bibcode=2002Sci...296.2158H |s2cid=7058296 }}

His second major area of research is the relationship between land use, biodiversity loss, and infectious disease. He has investigated how forest fragmentation affects wildlife habitat, causing species diversity to decline, and how this affects the abundance of ticks infected with pathogens that cause human diseases.{{cite journal |last1=Allan |first1=BF |last2=Keesing |first2=F |last3=Ostfeld |first3=RS |title=Effect of Forest Fragmentation on Lyme Disease Risk |journal=Conservation Biology |date=February 2003 |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=267–272 |doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.2003.01260.x|s2cid=34910516 }} He has explored the generality of this phenomenon for other infectious diseases,{{cite journal |last1=Keesing |first1=F |last2=Ostfeld |first2=RS |title=Dilution effects in disease ecology |journal=Ecology Letters |date=November 2021 |volume=24 |issue=11 |pages=2490–2505 |doi=10.1111/ele.13875|pmid=34482609 |pmc=9291114 |s2cid=237423713 }} including zoonoses.{{cite journal |last1=Keesing |first1=F |last2=Ostfeld |first2=RS |title=Impacts of biodiversity and biodiversity loss on zoonotic diseases |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=April 27, 2021 |volume=118 |issue=17 |pages=e2023540118 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2023540118|pmid=33820825 |pmc=8092607 |bibcode=2021PNAS..11823540K |doi-access=free }}

His third major research area is the ecology of eastern forests, particularly how a web of interconnected species is affected by pulsed resources (masting by oak trees), invasive species (spongy moths), and changes to biodiversity (e.g. loss of predators).{{cite journal |last1=Ostfeld |first1=RS |last2=Levi |first2=T |last3=Keesing |first3=F |last4=Oggenfuss |first4=K |last5=Canham |first5=CD |title=Tick‐borne disease risk in a forest food web |journal=Ecology |date=July 2018 |volume=99 |issue=7 |pages=1562–1573 |doi=10.1002/ecy.2386|pmid=29738078 |s2cid=13684579 }} He has generalized from the patterns observed in his long-term study systems in New York to explore the impacts of pulsed resources on ecosystem dynamics around the world.{{cite journal |last1=Ostfeld |first1=RS |last2=Keesing |first2=F |title=Pulsed resources and community dynamics of consumers in terrestrial ecosystems |journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution |date=June 2000 |volume=15 |issue=6 |pages=232–237 |doi=10.1016/S0169-5347(00)01862-0|pmid=10802548 }}

In 2024, Ostfeld was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.National Academy of Sciences, https://www.nasonline.org/news-and-multimedia/news/2024-nas-election.html He was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2019.American Academy of Arts and Sciences, https://www.amacad.org/person/richard-s-ostfeld He is a fellow of the Ecological Society of America (2014), and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2014). In 2009, Ostfeld received the C. Hart Merriam Award from the American Society of Mammalogists in recognition of "outstanding research in mammalogy over a period of at least 10 years".{{cite web |title=Merriam Award {{!}} American Society of Mammalogists |url=http://www.mammalsociety.org/committees/merriam-award#tab7 |website=www.mammalsociety.org |language=en |date=November 21, 2013}}

• {{Cite book |last=Ostfeld |first=Richard S. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/502303971 |title=Lyme disease : the ecology of a complex system |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-538812-1 |location=New York |oclc=502303971}}
• {{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/705945470 |title=Infectious disease ecology : the effects of ecosystems on disease and of disease on ecosystems |date=2008 |publisher=Princeton University Press |others=Richard S. Ostfeld, Felicia Keesing, Valerie T. Eviner |isbn=978-1-4008-3788-5 |location=Princeton, N.J. |oclc=705945470}}

• {{Cite journal |last1=Harvell |first1=C. Drew |last2=Mitchell |first2=Charles E. |last3=Ward |first3=Jessica R. |last4=Altizer |first4=Sonia |last5=Dobson |first5=Andrew P. |last6=Ostfeld |first6=Richard S. |last7=Samuel |first7=Michael D. |date=June 21, 2002 |title=Climate Warming and Disease Risks for Terrestrial and Marine Biota |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1063699 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=296 |issue=5576 |pages=2158–2162 |doi=10.1126/science.1063699 |pmid=12077394 |bibcode=2002Sci...296.2158H |s2cid=7058296 |issn=0036-8075|url-access=subscription }}
• {{Cite journal |last1=Keesing |first1=Felicia |last2=Belden |first2=Lisa K. |last3=Daszak |first3=Peter |last4=Dobson |first4=Andrew |last5=Harvell |first5=C. Drew |last6=Holt |first6=Robert D. |last7=Hudson |first7=Peter |last8=Jolles |first8=Anna |last9=Jones |first9=Kate E. |last10=Mitchell |first10=Charles E. |last11=Myers |first11=Samuel S. |last12=Bogich |first12=Tiffany |last13=Ostfeld |first13=Richard S. |date=December 2010 |title=Impacts of biodiversity on the emergence and transmission of infectious diseases |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=468 |issue=7324 |pages=647–652 |doi=10.1038/nature09575 |issn=1476-4687 |pmc=7094913 |pmid=21124449|bibcode=2010Natur.468..647K }}
• {{Cite journal |last1=Keesing |first1=F. |last2=Holt |first2=R. D. |last3=Ostfeld |first3=R. S. |date=April 2006 |title=Effects of species diversity on disease risk |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2006.00885.x |journal=Ecology Letters |language=en |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=485–498 |doi=10.1111/j.1461-0248.2006.00885.x |pmid=16623733 |issn=1461-023X|url-access=subscription }}
• {{Cite journal |last1=LoGiudice |first1=Kathleen |last2=Ostfeld |first2=Richard S. |last3=Schmidt |first3=Kenneth A. |last4=Keesing |first4=Felicia |date=January 21, 2003 |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 |language=en |volume=100 |issue=2 |pages=567–571 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0233733100 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=141036 |pmid=12525705|doi-access=free }}
• {{Cite journal |last1=Altizer |first1=Sonia |last2=Ostfeld |first2=Richard S. |last3=Johnson |first3=Pieter T. J. |last4=Kutz |first4=Susan |last5=Harvell |first5=C. Drew |date=August 2, 2013 |title=Climate Change and Infectious Diseases: From Evidence to a Predictive Framework |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1239401 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=341 |issue=6145 |pages=514–519 |doi=10.1126/science.1239401 |pmid=23908230 |bibcode=2013Sci...341..514A |s2cid=11003165 |issn=0036-8075|url-access=subscription }}
• {{Cite journal |last1=Ostfeld |first1=Richard S. |last2=Glass |first2=Gregory E. |last3=Keesing |first3=Felicia |date=June 1, 2005 |title=Spatial epidemiology: an emerging (or re-emerging) discipline |url=https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/abstract/S0169-5347(05)00071-6 |journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution |language=English |volume=20 |issue=6 |pages=328–336 |doi=10.1016/j.tree.2005.03.009 |issn=0169-5347 |pmid=16701389|url-access=subscription }}
• {{Cite journal |last1=Ostfeld |first1=Richard S. |last2=Jones |first2=Clive G. |last3=Wolff |first3=Jerry O. |date=May 1996 |title=Of Mice and Mast |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/1312946 |journal=BioScience |volume=46 |issue=5 |pages=323–330 |doi=10.2307/1312946 |jstor=1312946 |s2cid=89496723 |issn=0006-3568|doi-access=free }}

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• [https://www.caryinstitute.org/science/our-scientists/dr-richard-s-ostfeld Dr. Richard S. Ostfeld's Profile]
• [https://www.tickproject.org The Tick Project]

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Category:1954 births

Category:Living people

Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni

Category:University of California, Santa Cruz alumni

Category:Boston University faculty

Category:American ecologists

Category:Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Category:Fellows of the Ecological Society of America

Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences