I’m interested in studying the regional and global atmospheric transport of fungi, which are an critical and often overlooked part of the Earth System. Projected changes in climate may alter a fungal community’s composition and abundance, and also redefine species’ habitable environments. This could cause larger climate feedbacks, as fungi are responsible for recycling macronutrients and pathogenic fungi may be exposed to new hosts.
In particular, I have been focusing on Coccidioides spp. (Cocci), a fungi that causes the infectious disease valley fever (coccidioidomycosis). Valley fever is endemic in the southwestern U.S. where the fungal species resides in the desert soil. People may contract Valley fever when they inhale the fungal spores. Approximately forty percent of people who inhale spores develop symptoms ranging from short term, flu-like illness to severe, long term morbidity and fatality. The number of reported cases throughout the southwestern US has recently fluctuated and increased for unknown reasons, causing concern.
In our recent study published in GeoHealth, we found climate conditions have an affect on valley fever incidence. We combined county‐level case records from state health agencies to create a regional valley fever database for the southwestern United States, including Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. We used this data set to explore how the environment affected the spatial pattern and temporal dynamics of valley fever incidence from 2000–2015. Valley fever incidence was greater in areas with warmer air temperatures and drier soils. The seasonality of disease varied throughout the southwestern United States and was highest following periods of lower rainfall. In the Central Valley of California, incidence was higher following a cool, wet spring season. By 2015, incidence in south-central Arizona was more than double the rate in the San Joaquin Valley.
Our analysis provides a framework for interpreting the influence of climate change on valley fever incidence dynamics. Our results may allow the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to improve their estimates of the spatial pattern and intensity of valley fever endemicity.
To explore the connections between climate and Cocci, I am creating and analyzing the first robust valley fever incidence database against hypothesized climate drivers. I have also collected and analyzed soil samples throughout the southwestern U.S. to define the environmental conditions in which Cocci lives. I aim to create a decision support tool to forecast what new locations may be suitable for Cocci to survive due to climate change and what new populations may be exposed to valley fever.
I work in collaboration on this project with Linh Anh Cat, a graduate student in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department, and Dr. Kathleen Treseder, a professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.