Dr. Holly Ernest, Professor, Wyoming Excellence Chair in Disease Ecology, Department of Veterinary
Sciences, faculty member in the Program in Ecology, and Affiliate faculty member in
the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources (B.S., Biology, Cornell University; M.S. Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, Ohio
State University; Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Ohio State University; Ph.D. Ecology
with focus in wildlife genetics, University of California, Davis). Professor Ernest
joined the UW faculty in August of 2014, after serving as a faculty member at the
University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Her research, teaching,
and service program involves the intersection of two exciting and emerging disciplines;
Wildlife Genomics and Disease Ecology. Dr. Ernest is a wildlife biologist, population
geneticist, and wildlife veterinarian who leads a team of students and researcher-trainees
to answer questions vital to conservation and management of wildlife populations in
Wyoming and the North American West. Wildlife include wild ungulates (bighorn sheep,
mule deer and Chronic Wasting Disease, and pronghorn), carnivores (mountain lions,
black bears, and otters), and birds (raptors and hummingbirds). Dr. Ernest’s team
studies in population genomics apply state-of-art whole genome DNA technology to examine
factors that are vital for population health, genetic diversity, and adaptations to
changing environments. Dr. Ernest and her students have provided over 60 outreach
and public service activities in 2017 and 2018 including (just a few examples) participating
in K12 Science Olympiad in Casper, UW Saturday-University talks in Jackson and Rock
Springs; Women in STEM Science; advising biologists from US Fish and Wildlife Service,
WY Game and Fish Dept, and other state and federal agencies; presentations for the
Wyoming Wild Sheep Foundation and the National Bighorn Sheep Museum in Dubois; developing
an educational video game for K12 educators to illustrate spread of disease in wildlife;
and providing a senior center with an educational talk and materials about hummingbird
ecology. Working with the Wyoming Department of Game and Fish, Dr. Ernest’s team are
determining the genetic health and population structure of bighorn sheep, mule deer
– including genetic susceptibility to Chronic Wasting Disease, and pronghorn populations
state-wide; Ecology and genomic diversity of Great Gray Owls in Northwest Wyoming;
and employing a combination of field ecology, bird banding, and genomic methods to
evaluate population ecology of hummingbirds who live in “sky-island” habitats in the
Rocky Mountains. Dr. Ernest’s NSF-funded collaboration with Colorado State University,
University of Minnesota, and University of Tasmania involves testing models of landscape-level
viral disease transmission as informed by host and viral genomic data in wild felids
(mountain lions and bobcats). Ernest Lab members conduct statistical analysis and
modeling with the Teton computing core resources to interpretation of large (terabyte)
genomic data sets. Dr. Ernest teaches her undergraduate course Disease Ecology: which
covers real world applications and the underlying principles that influence the spatial
and temporal patterns of diseases. Dr. Ernest also leads a graduate seminar series
in Conservation Genomics, a discipline that is growing rapidly in importance for conserving
and managing natural wildlife and plant resources. Dr. Ernest served as Program in
Ecology Curriculum Committee chair, provided service as the Graduate Program Coordinator
for the Department of Veterinary Sciences, was elected to serve on the UW Graduate
Council, serves on the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Tenure and Promotion
Committee, and has provided several external tenure and promotion evaluations for
other universities. Extramural funding for research projects over the past 3 years
totaled over $1,000,000, with new grant funding coming in since spring 2018 totaling
over $150,000. Funding and exciting projects have allowed recruitment to Wyoming
of the best and brightest students and trainees. Multi-institution collaborations
include Montana State University, Colorado State University, University of California
Davis, Wyoming Department of Game and Fish (WGFD), National Park Service, US Geological
Survey, Smithsonian Institution, UC Santa Cruz, US Department of Agriculture, and
others. Dr. Ernest serves on the federal Wildlife Forensic Science NIST panel of
experts to develop and distribute DNA methods and protocols for crime labs. Nine scientific
papers have been accepted, in-press or published during the past year include journals
of Wildlife Diseases, Evolutionary Applications, Wildlife Management, Diversity and
Distributions, and Conservation Genetics. Dr. Ernest serves as Associate Editor for
the journal, Conservation Genetics. She expanded the Wildlife Genomics and Disease Ecology Lab’s online presence to
educate the public about wildlife health issues and research: a website with over
30 informational pages, www.wildlifegenetichealth.org, and regular twitter and Facebook postings.