Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Ariel Leon

Ariel Leon is a Supervisory Biologist at the National Wildlife Health Center.

She received a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Biology from Barnard College and a PhD in Biological Sciences from Virginia Tech. She joined the USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) in 2019 as Biologist working with Dr. Tonie Rocke on testing the feasibility of vaccination as a management tool for White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) in North American bats, in addition to studying host susceptibility and resistance to WNS and other wildlife diseases. She started in her role as Supervisory Biologist at the NWHC in 2023, where she acts as the unit coordinator for the Diagnostic Necropsy and Histology labs.

Professional Experience

  • 2023-Present Supervisory Biologist, USGS National Wildlife Health Center, Madison, WI

  • 2019-2023 Biologist, USGS National Wildlife Health Center, Madison, WI

  • 2013-2019 Graduate Research Assistant, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, VA

  • 2010-2013 Research Assistant, Oregon Health & Science University, Beaverton, OR

Education and Certifications

  • 2019 - Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, VA

  • 2010 - Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Biology, Barnard College of Columbia University, New York, NY

Affiliations and Memberships*

  • Wildlife Disease Association

  • Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology

Science and Products

Management of vampire bats and rabies: Past, present, and future

Rabies virus transmitted via the bite of common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) has surpassed canine-associated cases as the predominant cause of human rabies in Latin America. Cattle, the preferred prey of D. rotundus, suffer extensive mortality from vampire bat associated rabies, with annual financial losses estimated in the tens of millions of dollars. Organized attempts to manage or curtail v
Authors
Tonie E. Rocke, Daniel G. Streicker, Ariel Elizabeth Leon
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Sex-biased infections scale to population impacts for an emerging wildlife disease

Demographic factors are fundamental in shaping infectious disease dynamics. Aspects of populations that create structure, like age and sex, can affect patterns of transmission, infection intensity and population outcomes. However, studies rarely link these processes from individual to population-scale effects. Moreover, the mechanisms underlying demographic differences in disease are frequently un
Authors
Macy J. Kailing, Joseph R. Hoyt, J. Paul White, Heather M. Kaarakka, Jennifer A. Redell, Ariel Elizabeth Leon, Tonie E. Rocke, John E. DePue, William H. Scullon, Katy L. Parise, Jeffrey T. Foster, A. Marm Kilpatrick, Kate E. Langwig
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Experimental infection of Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) with SARS-CoV-2

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus is thought to have originated in wild bats from Asia, and as the resulting pandemic continues into its third year, concerns have been raised that the virus will expand its host range and infect North American wildlife species, including bats. Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) live in large colonies in the souther
Authors
Jeffrey S. Hall, Erik K. Hofmeister, Hon S. Ip, Sean Nashold, Ariel Elizabeth Leon, Carly Marie Malave, Elizabeth Falendysz, Tonie E. Rocke, M. Carossino, U. Balasuriya, Susan Knowles
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Immunogenicity, safety, and anti-viral efficacy of a subunit SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate in captive black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) and their susceptibility to viral challenge

A preliminary vaccination trial against the emergent pathogen, SARS-CoV-2, was completed in captive black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes; BFF) to assess safety, immunogenicity, and anti-viral efficacy. Vaccination and boosting of 15 BFF with purified SARS-CoV-2 S1 subunit protein produced a nearly 150-fold increase in mean antibody titers compared to pre-vaccination titers. Serum antibody respon
Authors
Ariel Elizabeth Leon, Della Garelle, Airn Hartwig, Elizabeth Falendysz, Hon S. Ip, Julia S. Lankton, Tyler Tretten, Terry Spraker, Richard Bowen, Tonie E. Rocke
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center

Evidence gaps and diversity among potential win–win solutions for conservation and human infectious disease control

As sustainable development practitioners have worked to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all” and “conserve life on land and below water”, what progress has been made with win–win interventions that reduce human infectious disease burdens while advancing conservation goals? Using a systematic literature review, we identified 46 proposed solutions, which we then investigated individ
Authors
Skylar R. Hopkins, Kevin D. Lafferty, Chelsea L. Wood, Sarah H Olson, Julia C Buck, Giulio A. De Leo, Kathryn Fiorella, Johanna Fornberg, Andres Garchitorena, Isabel J. Jones, Armand Kuris, Laura H Kwong, Christopher LeBoa, Ariel Elizabeth Leon, Andrea Lund, Andrew J MacDonald, Daniel Metz, Nicole Nova, Alison J. Peel, Justin V. Remais, Tara E. Stewart Merrill, Maya Wilson, Matthew Bonds, Andrew Dobson, David Lopez-Carr, Meghan Howard, Lisa Mandle, Susanne H. Sokolow
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC)

Experimental challenge of a North American bat species, big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus), with SARS-CoV-2

The recently emerged novel coronavirus, SARS‐CoV‐2, is phylogenetically related to bat coronaviruses (CoVs), specifically SARS‐related CoVs from the Eurasian bat family Rhinolophidae. As this human pandemic virus has spread across the world, the potential impacts of SARS‐CoV‐2 on native North American bat populations are unknown, as is the ability of North American bats to serve as reservoirs or i
Authors
Jeffrey S. Hall, Susan Knowles, Sean Nashold, Hon S. Ip, Ariel Elizabeth Leon, Tonie E. Rocke, Saskia Annatina Keller, Mariano Carossino, Udeni B.R. Balasuriya, Erik K. Hofmeister
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center
link
Gloved hands holding a bat white glove scientists administers vaccine orally.

White-nose syndrome vaccine update and research on host protection mechanisms

Sixteen years after Pd, the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome in bats, was first recognized in New York, its range now extends to the Rocky Mountains, and it has been definitively detected in all but seven states (Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah). The National Wildlife Health Center and our partners continue to field test a WNS vaccine for wild bats and to research...
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Biological Threats and Invasive Species Research Program, National Wildlife Health Center
link

White-nose syndrome vaccine update and research on host protection mechanisms

Sixteen years after Pd, the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome in bats, was first recognized in New York, its range now extends to the Rocky Mountains, and it has been definitively detected in all but seven states (Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah). The National Wildlife Health Center and our partners continue to field test a WNS vaccine for wild bats and to research...
Learn More
link
Cluster of bats on a cave wall.

Field trials for testing of white-nose syndrome vaccine candidates

White-nose syndrome (WNS), caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), continues to decimate bat populations in North America, and efforts to develop treatment options have intensified. One potential method for controlling WNS is vaccination of bats with specific antigens to elicit a protective immune response.
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Biological Threats and Invasive Species Research Program, National Wildlife Health Center
link

Field trials for testing of white-nose syndrome vaccine candidates

White-nose syndrome (WNS), caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), continues to decimate bat populations in North America, and efforts to develop treatment options have intensified. One potential method for controlling WNS is vaccination of bats with specific antigens to elicit a protective immune response.
Learn More
Cluster of bats on a cave wall.
link
Cluster of cave myotis bats (Myotis velifer) on cave wall in Texas

Science and Products

*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government