Manuel Ruiz Aravena, Postdoctoral Researcher

“Could we leverage the physiological and behavioral responses of organisms to their environment to stop pathogen spillover from wildlife to humans?”

I use field-based and conceptual approaches to study how organisms respond to environmental conditions, from their physiology to behavior, the two main components of host competence to transmit infections. Pathogen spillover from wildlife to humans happens under specific conditions that favor the contacts between infected wildlife and susceptible humans. By understanding wildlife health (i.e., immunology, infection status) and behavior (i.e., movements and contact with humans), we can propose interventions that protect both wildlife and human health. 

PhD, 2019
Biological Sciences
University of Tasmania, Australia

Bachelor of Veterinary Science & Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, 2012 
Universidad Austral de Chile

Twitter: @MRuizAravena