Team | Risa Pesapane

Principal Investigator

Risa Pesapane (she/her) is a broadly trained disease ecologist who studies parasites and pathogens in both human and animal populations by leveraging tools from community ecology, molecular ecology, landscape ecology, microbiology, entomology, and epidemiology. She earned a PhD in ecology with a designated emphasis in the biology of vector-borne disease from UC Davis, an MS in wildlife science with a focus on disease ecology from Virginia Tech, and simultaneous undergraduate degrees in wildlife science and biology from Virginia Tech. Risa is a vocal advocate for interdisciplinarity, One Health, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. At home, she is mom to two young children as well as several pets and enjoys a myriad of home and garden projects with her partner on their small homestead.

Email: pesapane.1@osu.edu

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Graduate Students

Ningzhu Bai obtained a B.S. in Animal Biosciences, with a minor in Forestry, Fisheries, and Wildlife, from The Ohio State University in 2020. She recently defended her Master’s in 2022 and is in her first year of a PhD in the Environment and Natural Resources Graduate Program (ENRGP). She is interested in the ecology of vector-borne disease.

Ashani Hangawatte, received a BSc specializing in Zoology with a focus on Wildlife Conservation and Molecular Biology from The Open University of Sri Lanka. She is currently a second year graduate student in Environment and Natural Resources, PhD program at the Ohio State University. Prior to enrolling in the graduate program, she worked on fish ecology, captive sloth bear behavior, marine mammal genetic diversity, and urban wild feline ecology and diseases in Sri Lanka. Her passion is to learn disease ecology in order to apply the knowledge to wildlife conservation. In her free time she loves to spend time on animal welfare, traveling, hiking, and SCUBA diving.

DaZané Cole is a veterinary student at Ohio State’s College of Veterinary Medicine where she also pursuing a Comparative Biomedical Sciences Master’s degree in the combined DVM/MS program. DaZané received a BS in Biology and BA in psychology with a minor in chemistry from Sweet Briar College. DaZané is currently investigating bovine anaplasmosis via analysis of ticks from Ohio livestock where she is characterizing the species and genotypes present in cattle herds. DaZané is interested in studying zoonotic disease and pathology where she hopes to apply her findings in clinical and translational medicine.

Morgan Shields is a veterinary student at Ohio State’s College of Veterinary Medicine where she also pursuing a Comparative Biomedical Sciences Master’s degree in the combined DVM/MS program. Morgan is interested in zoo/aquatic animal medicine and research, animal disaster relief/marine rescue, and service in the U. S. Army Vet Corps. Morgan graduated from Otterbein University with a degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. She is especially passionate about ocean health and her favorite animal is the Amazon River Dolphin. For the 2021 Summer Research Program with the PPE Lab, Morgan studied the survival and control of nasopulmonary mites in captive facilities to guide husbandry protocols that improve marine mammal health. For the 2022 Summer Research Program, she studied the potential role of cetacean lungworm in the transmission of Brucella. When she is not studying, Morgan enjoys SCUBA diving, horseback riding, backpacking, and rock climbing.

Afsoon Sabet is a PhD student in the Entomology Department at OSU co-advised by Dr. Sam Ward, where she hopes to further develop her skills and interests while studying tick dynamics and ecology. She received a B.S. in Biology from West Virginia University, where she worked with Dr. Rita Rio and the tsetse fly, investigating the role of DNMT2 in epigenetics in Glossina morsitans. From there, she proceeded to attend Mississippi State University where she got her master’s degree in Entomology under Drs. Jerome Goddard and Samuel F. Ward, studying the bed bug and its capacity as a vector of disease.

Benjamin Zeiger is an M.S. student in Environment and Natural Resources. He received a B.S. in Evolution and Ecology from Ohio State University in 2019, and has worked in fish husbandry, cyanobacteria culturing, mite archiving and microscopy, and wild osprey reintroduction. After working with the PPE Lab as a part-time research associate, Benjamin joined as a student to investigate arthropod disease vectors on agriculture properties. He is interested in interspecies disease systems, particularly regarding disease transmission and management. In his free time, he likes to go hiking, biking, birdwatching, or sailing.

Professional Students

Andreas Eleftheriou (he/him) is a resident in Veterinary Public Health and an MPH student. He has received a B.A. in Biology with a specialization in Ecology and Conservation Biology from Boston University, an M.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, a D.V.M. from Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, and a Ph.D. in Fish and Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana. His research approach typically takes a One Health perspective and aims to combine field, laboratory, statistical and mathematical modeling to address ongoing and emerging issues in health and disease. Andreas is particularly interested in veterinary preventive medicine, infectious disease ecology, ecotoxicology, epidemiology, and conservation medicine. In the Pesapane lab, Andreas will participate in an Ohio-based project that seeks to identify deficiencies in the knowledge of livestock producers and veterinary professionals about invasive ticks and tick-borne diseases and help address any deficiencies via educational materials. Outside of academia, he is excited to explore what Columbus has to offer during his tenure! Find Andreas on Twitter @andreas_elef

Lauren (Lo) Vesprani completed her DVM at Ohio State’s College of Veterinary Medicine in 2023 and is now pursing an MPH in Veterinary Public Health. She majored in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Michigan. With the PPE Lab, Lo is reviewing the current recommendations to prevent tick bites and Lyme disease in the US and assessing their cultural appropriateness for the Amish population of eastern Ohio.

Undergraduate Students

Jazmin Jennings is an undergraduate student at The Ohio State University majoring in Zoology with a minor in Animal Pre-Veterinary Medicine. She is interested in pursuing wildlife veterinary medicine and exploring how zoonoses spread among wild animal populations.

Jessica Fleming is an undergraduate student at The Ohio State University majoring in Zoology. She is interested in exotic/wildlife veterinary medicine and how invasive parasites can affect wildlife conservation efforts. In her free time, she enjoys birding, hiking, and reading.

Joe Sieving is majoring in Forestry, Fisheries and Wildlife. He is an easy going kind of person and enjoys traveling, hiking/backpacking, aquascaping, and fish keeping.