Contact Information

Office: SCA 322
Phone: 813/974-4694
Email: traffel@cas.usf.edu

Ph.D. Biology, Penn State University, 2006

Research

My research focuses on how environmental effects on the immune system affect host-parasite interactions in amphibians. I am investigating how temperature, stress, and breeding status affect seasonal and spatial patterns in immunocompetence.

Recent Publications

Rohr, J.R., Swan, A., Raffel, T.R., Hudson, P.J. 2009. Parasites, info-disruption, and the ecology of fear. Oecologia. 159: 447-454

Raffel, T.R., Le Gros, R.J., Love, B.C., Rohr, J.R., Hudson, P.J. 2009. Parasite age-intensity relationships in red-spotted newts: does immune memory influence salamander disease dynamics? International Journal for Parasitology. 39: 231-241

Raffel, T.R., Bommarito, T., Barry, D.S., Witiak, S.M., Shackleton, L.A. 2008. Widespread infection of the Eastern red-spotted newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) by a new species of Amphibiocystidium, a genus of fungus-like mesomycetozoan parasites not previously reported in North America. Parasitology. 135: 203-215

Rohr, J.R., Raffel, T.R., Romansic, J., McCallum, H., Hudson, P.J. 2008. Evaluating the links between climate, disease spread, and amphibian declines. PNAS. 45: 17436-17441

Rohr, J.R., Schoetthofer, A.M., Raffel, T.R., Carrick, H.J., Halstead, N., Hoverman, J.T., Johnson, C.M., Johnson, L.B., Lieske, C., Piwoni, M.D., Schoff, P.K., Beasley, V.R. 2008. Agrochemicals increase trematode infections in a declining amphibian species. Nature. 455: 1235-1239

Raffel, T.R., Martin, L.B., Rohr, J.R. 2008. Parasites as predators: unifying natural enemy ecology. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 23: 610-618 (invited submission)

Rohr, J.R., Raffel, T.R., Sessions, S.K., Hudson, P.J. 2008. Understanding the net effects of pesticides on amphibian trematode infections. Ecological Applications. 18: 1743-1753

Raffel, T.R., Dillard, J.R., Hudson, P.J. 2006. Field evidence for leech-borne transmission of amphibian Ichthyophonus sp. Journal of Parasitolology 92: 1256-1264

Raffel, T.R., Rohr, J.R., Kiesecker, J.M., Hudson, P.J. 2006. Negative effects of changing temperature on amphibian immunity under field conditions. Functional Ecology 20: 819-828

Raffel, T.R., Gatz, A.J. 2003. The orientation of beavers (Castor canadensis) when cutting trees. The Ohio Journal of Science 103: 143-146

Raffel, T.R., Register, K.B., Marks, S.A., Temple, L.M. 2002.  Prevalence of Bordetella avium in wild and domestic bird species of eastern USA. Wildlife Diseases  38: 40-4