dr. HJ (Helen) Esser

I am an assistant professor at the Wildlife Ecology & Conservation group at Wageningen University. As a disease ecologist, I study the ecological interactions between arthropod vectors such as ticks and mosquitoes, the pathogens that they transmit, and the vertebrate hosts on which they feed. Anthropogenic environmental changes, such as biodiversity loss, climate change, and habitat modification are impacting these interactions in unpredictable ways. My ambition is to understand how environmental changes can trigger disease outbreaks by identifying the ecological mechanisms of disease transmission.

So far, my research has focussed on:

1) Qauntifying host-parasite relationships and explaining differences in parasite burden among host individuals and species
2) Understanding how changes in wildlife community composition and loss of species affects host-parasite relationships and ultimitely disease risk
3) Identifying ecological risk factors for disease emergence and creating corresponding risk maps

More recently, I've taken on an experimental approach to study how host movement affects parasite burden and disease transmission, and mathematical modeling to understand the transmission dynamics of tick-borne encephalitis virus.

More about my research

• Dutch Society for Wildlife Health (17-4-2024/31-12-2099)
  The mission of the Dutch Society for Wildlife Health (DSWH) is to acquire, disseminate and apply knowledge of the health and welfare of wild and feral animals in relation to their ecosystem, biology, conservation and interaction with humans and domestic animals, with an emphasis on the Netherlands.||The DSWH organizes annually a symposium for all interested and a meeting for all members.