MCA: Understanding the animal movement and disease transmission interface

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Transmission of infectious pathogens between individuals is often the result of host-to-host contacts, and those contacts are influenced by host movement and the social and biophysical environment. Yet there is not a general framework that directly connects the social and biophysical environment to host contact rates. The overall objectives of this research are to provide protected time and support for a mid-career researcher to update her quantitative tools under the mentorship of two early-career partners with said expertise, and to test how the environment links to contact rate using high-resolution movement data and modern movement-contact analyses. Once disease-producing host contacts are tied to environmental features, animal movement data can be used to predict the location of contacts and consequent pathogen transmission in novel environments. Given current global concern over the emergence of new diseases and host reservoirs, such as sustained transmission of SARS-COV-2 in deer, it is vital to understand, predict, and manage disease spread in wildlife, livestock, and human systems.The specific scientific aims of this study are to: (1) learn to use a newly developed movement-contact model (i.e., MoveSTIR); (2) extend the theory of MoveSTIR to understand how environmental context shapes contact hotspot dynamics; and (3) apply the expanded MoveSTIR to empirical movement and disease data from white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to identify social and biophysical contexts of transmission. This proposal will develop an approach that integrates aspects of an animal’s social and biophysical environment with high-resolution movement data to predict contact hotspots relevant for disease transmission, in novel landscapes. This research leverages ongoing data collection from a new movement and disease study of 40 GPS-collared deer and integrates empirical data into the novel workflow. This project will also broaden participation in research by providing professional development opportunities and training for a female mid-career researcher; lead to a NIMBioS workshop for other scientists interested in the interface between animal movement and disease transmission including a user-friendly R package for the MoveSTIR model; and strengthen ties between researchers, the public, and wildlife managers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.