Diann Prosser, Ph.D.
Biography
Diann Prosser is a research wildlife ecologist at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. She began working at Patuxent in 1999. Her background is in wetland ecology and ornithology and her research interests include using spatial modeling techniques to help answer questions related to wildlife and stressors such as climate change and disease.
Education:
- B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Science (1995) from the Pennsylvania State University
- M.S. in Ecology (1998) from the Pennsylvania State University
- Ph.D. (2012) from the University of Maryland’s Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences interdisciplinary ecology program
AWARDS:
- 2017 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)
- University of Maryland Goldhaber Travel Grant
- 2011 NSF SGER Grant
- 2007 NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes
- 2005 University of Maryland Nagel Travel Grant
- 2005 USGS, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center Star Award 2000
Recently Hosted Visiting Scientists from Chinese Academy of Sciences (2012-2013)
Science and Products
Blue-winged Teal and Cross Continental Avian Influenza Transmission
This project aims to improve our understanding of the migratory ecology of Blue-winged Teal and how this may impact the ability of this species to transmit avian influenza or other pathogens across the wild bird – domestic poultry interface.This project aims to improve our understanding of the migratory ecology of Blue-winged Teal and how this may impact the ability of this species to transmit...
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Seaduck Challenge Study
This project seeks to improve our understanding of the susceptibility and pathogenesis of pertinent strains of avian influenza viruses in diving duck species.
Avian Influenza Surveillance in Waterfowl in the Atlantic Flyway
This project seeks to quantify the strains and prevalence of avian influenza viruses circulating in wild waterfowl across the Atlantic Flyway, and allow comparison with the nations other flyways.
Pathogens in the Aquatic Environment – Waterfowl, Avian Influenza
This project focuses on understanding the prevalence and strains of avian influenza viruses in the aquatic environment and how this compares to those circulating within wild birds in the same area.
USGS Wild Bird Avian Influenza Program – Studies from Endemic Regions of Eurasia
This project focuses on tracking wild birds throughout Eurasia via satellite telemetry to better understand their spatiotemporal movement patterns, relationship to domestic birds, and potential role in the spread, persistence, and amplification of avian influenza viruses.
Productivity of Species of Concern – Least Tern and Common Tern on Poplar Island Restoration Site
This project aims to understand the factors driving breeding success of multiple waterbird species, with special emphasis on Least and Common Terns (two species of concern) on Poplar Island Environmental Restoration Project.This project aims to understand the factors driving breeding success of multiple waterbird species, with special emphasis on Least and Common Terns (two species of concern...
Using Advanced Technology to Enhance Research at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (PWRC) - a Public-Private Partnership
This project is focused on exploring the use of new technology to collect data on colonially nesting waterbird species in ways that reduce disturbance, improve data accuracy, or allow for the examination of previously unanswerable questions.
Deriving Spatial Waterfowl Inputs for Disease Risk Modeling
This project is an effort to create spatially and temporally explicit models for waterfowl distribution across the United States for use in avian influenza transmission risk modeling.
Wetlands
Wetlands play many important roles in the environment including water purification, flood prevention, stabilizing shorelines, and serve as habitat for fish, shellfish, waterfowl and other wildlife. We work with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, National Park Service and other federal and state land managers that are charged with managing our nation’s wetlands to ensure these habitats are...
Climate Change
The impacts of a changing climate on wildlife and associated ecosystems have yet to be fully determined but changes are clearly underway as are a variety of investigations to assess how we can best preserve key resources while effectively managing others. Using a variety of tools and a combination of studies including adaptive management, long-term monitoring, mathematical modeling, and...
Avian Influenza
Avian influenza outbreaks can result in significant economic loss, as in 2014-2015 when the Congressional Research Service estimated losses of $3.3 billion dollars from the death and culling of domestic poultry due to an outbreak of this disease. Patuxent’s avian influenza research seeks to answer such questions as “How far can a bird carrying this virus travel?” and “What influences the...
Coastal & Estuarine
Coastal areas and estuaries contain a variety of habitats that serve many purposes including protecting other lands from flooding and storms, habitats important to commercially harvested fish and shellfish, recreational uses, and habitat for wildlife. We work with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, National Park Service and other federal and state land managers that are charged with managing...
Spatio-temporal distribution models for dabbling duck species across the continental United States
These data describe the spatio-temporal distribution of dabbling duck species across the continental United States during four biologically relevant seasons. This dataset contains two types of distribution models: (1) probability of presence, and (2) abundance. The model type, species, and season depicted in a raster are defined in the file name. File names begin with either ab
Visualizing Models for Avian Influenza Viruses
Emergence of avian influenza viruses with the potential to be highly pathogenic to poultry, wild birds, & humans, such as the highly pathogenic H5N1 and H7N9 cause serious concern for the global economic & public health sectors. Visual representations of model data can be effective in helping to discover how the spread of the virus is influenced by environmental & human factors....
Preliminary evaluation of behavioral response of nesting waterbirds to small unmanned aircraft flight
This dataset is comprised of 3 .csv files related to the use of unmanned aerial systems over waterbird colonies. Specifically, data detail the disturbance observed in birds during flights, the time required for traditional ground surveys to be conducted, and the distance at which birds flush during traditional ground surveys.
Standardization and Application of an Index of Community Integrity for Waterbirds in the Chesapeake Bay
This data set is comprised of five files related to the modification and scoring of Index of Waterbird Community Integrity (IWCI) scores for all waterbirds of the Chesapeake Bay. One Excel file (A) contains a list of 100+ Chesapeake waterbird species and their species attribute and IWCI scores.
Low-pathogenic avian influenza viruses in wild migratory waterfowl in a region of high poultry production, Delmarva, Maryland
This data set is comprised of four files related to the biosurveillance of low pathogenic avian influenza viruses (LPAIV) in migratory waterfowl at 22 locations in the Maryland portion of the Delmarva Peninsula in fall/winter of 2013-2014.
Effects of local shoreline and subestuary watershed condition on waterbird use influences of geography scale and season in the Chesapeake Bay
This dataset is comprised of six files related to waterbird surveys and resulting Index of Waterbird Community Integrity (IWCI) scores in 21 subestuaries of the Chesapeake Bay from 2010-2014. Two .csv files (1 data file: Prosser et al 2017_IWCI Results MS_Bird Survey Raw Data.csv, 1 definitions file: Prosser et al 2017_IWCI Results MS_Bird Survey Raw Data_Definitions.csv) contain da
Assessing nest attentiveness of Common Terns via video cameras and temperature loggers
While nest attentiveness plays a critical role in the reproductive success of avian species, little nest attentiveness data with high temporal resolution is available for many species. However, improvements in both video monitoring and temperature logging devices present an opportunity to improve our understanding of this aspect of avian behavior...
Sullivan, Jeffery D.; Marban, Paul R.; Mullinax, Jennifer M.; Brinker, David F.; McGowan, Petter C.; Callahan, Carl C.; Prosser, Diann Waterfowl occurrence and residence time as indicators of H5 and H7 avian influenza in North American Poultry
Avian influenza (AI) affects wild aquatic birds and poses hazards to human health, food security, and wildlife conservation globally. Accordingly, there is a recognized need for new methods and tools to help quantify the dynamic interaction between wild bird hosts and commercial poultry. Using satellite-marked waterfowl, we applied Bayesian joint...
Humphreys, John M.; Ramey, Andy; Douglas, David C.; Mullinax, Jennifer M.; Soos, Catherine; Link, Paul T.; Walther, Patrick; Prosser, Diann J. Limited detection of antibodies to clade 2.3.4.4 A/Goose/Guangdong/1/1996 lineage highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza virus in North American waterfowl
During 2014, highly pathogenic (HP) influenza A viruses (IAVs) of the A/Goose/Guangdong/1/1996 lineage (GsGD-HP-H5), originating from Asia, were detected in domestic poultry and wild birds in Canada and the US. These clade 2.3.4.4 GsGD-HP-H5 viruses included reassortants possessing North American lineage gene segments; were detected in wild birds...
Stallknecht, David E.; Kienzle-Dean, Clara; Davis-Fields, Nick; Jennelle, Christopher S.; Bowman, Andrew S.; Nolting, Jacqueline M.; Boyce, Walter; Crum, James; Santos, Jefferson; Brown, Justin D.; Prosser, Diann; De La Cruz, Susan E. W.; Ackerman, Joshua T.; Casazza, Michael L.; Krauss, Scott; Perez, Daniel; Ramey, Andrew M.; Poulson, Rebecca L. Assessing beach and island habitat loss in the Chesapeake Bay and Delmarva coastal bay region, USA, through processing of Landsat TM and OLI imagery: A case study
Beaches and islands provide economic value to humans and critical habitat for breeding and foraging wildlife. These ecosystems, however, are being severely impacted by global climate change and sea level rise through increased erosion and frequency of inundation. The case study presented here aimed to document island loss in the Chesapeake Bay and...
Marban, Paul R.; Mullinax, Jennifer M.; Resop, Jonathan P.; Prosser, Diann Confronting models with data: The challenges of estimating disease spillover
For pathogens known to transmit across host species, strategic investment in disease control requires knowledge about where and when spillover transmission is likely. One approach to estimating spillover is to directly correlate observed spillover events with covariates. An alternative is to mechanistically combine information on host density,...
Cross, Paul C.; Prosser, Diann; Ramey, Andrew M.; Hanks, Ephraim M.; Pepin, Kim M. Promoting change in common tern (Sterna hirundo) nest site selection to minimize construction related disturbance
With dramatic declines in waterbird populations around the globe, wildlife managers have taken great care to minimize disturbance to breeding waterbird colonies. However, sometimes disturbance cannot be avoided and other actions must be considered. During the 2017 breeding season, a colony of Sterna hirundo (Common terns) were deterred from a...
McGowan, Peter C.; Sullivan, Jeffery D.; Callahan, Carl C.; Schultz, William; Wall, Jennifer L.; Prosser, Diann A network approach to prioritize conservation efforts for migratory birds
Habitat loss can trigger migration network collapse by isolating migratory birds’ breeding grounds from non-breeding grounds. Theoretically, habitat loss can have vastly different impacts depending on the site’s importance within the migratory corridor. However, migration network connectivity and the impacts of site loss are not completely...
Xu, Yanjie; Si, Yali; Takekawa, John; Liu, Qiang; Prins, Herbert H.T.; Yin, Shenglai; Prosser, Diann J.; Gong, Peng; de Boer, Willem F. Seasonal occurrence and abundance of dabbling ducks across the continental United States: Joint spatio-temporal modelling for the Genus Anas
Estimating the distribution and abundance of wildlife is an essential task in species conservation, wildlife management and habitat prioritization. Although a host of methods and tools have been proposed to accomplish this undertaking, several challenges remain in accurately forecasting occurrence and abundance for highly mobile species....
Humphreys, John M.; Murrow, Jennifer L.; Sullivan, Jeffery D.; Prosser, Diann
Hurricane Sandy impacts on coastal wetland resilience
The goal of this research was to evaluate the impacts of Hurricane Sandy on surface elevation trends in estuarine marshes located across the northeast region of the United States from Virginia to Maine using data from an opportunistic (in other words, not strategic) and collaborative network (from here on, an opportunistic network) of surface...
Cahoon, Donald R.; Olker, Jennifer H.; Yeates, Alice G.; Guntenspergen, Glenn R.; Grace, James B.; Adamowicz, Susan C.; Anisfeld, Shimon C.; Baldwin, Andrew H.; Barrett, Nels; Beckett, Leah; Benzecry, Alice; Blum, Linda K.; Burdick, David M.; Crouch, William; Ekberg, Marci Cole; Fernald, Sarah; Grimes, Kristin Wilson; Grzyb, Joseph; Hartig, Ellen Kracauer; Kreeger, Danielle A.; Larson, Marit; Lerberg, Scott; Lynch, James C.; Maher, Nicole; Maxwell-Doyle, Martha; Mitchell, Laura R.; Mora, Jordan; O'Neill, Victoria; Padeletti, Angela; Prosser, Diann J.; Quirk, Tracy; Raposa, Kenneth B.; Reay, William G.; Siok, Drexel; Snow, Christopher; Starke, Adam; Stevenson, J. Court; Staver, Lorie; Turner, Vincent Waterfowl spring migratory behavior and avian influenza transmission risk in the changing landscape of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway
Avian influenza has advanced from a regional concern to a global health issue with significant economic, trade, and public health implications. Wild birds, particularly waterfowl (Anseriformes), are known reservoirs for low-pathogenic avian influenza viruses (AIV) and recent studies have shown their potential in the spread of highly pathogenic...
Sullivan, Jeffery D.; Takekawa, John Y.; Spragens, Kyle A.; Newman, Scott H.; Xiao, Xiangming; Leader, Paul J.; Smith, Bena; Prosser, Diann J. A video surveillance system to monitor breeding colonies of common terns (Sterna Hirundo)
Many waterbird populations have faced declines over the last century, including the common tern (Sterna hirundo), a waterbird species with a widespread breeding distribution, that has been recently listed as endangered in some habitats of its range. Waterbird monitoring programs exist to track populations through time; however, some of the more...
Wall, J.L.; Marban, Paul; Brinker, D.F.; Sullivan, J.D.; Zimnik, M.; Murrow, J.L.; McGowan, P.C.; Callahan, Carl R.; Prosser, Diann J. Investigating home range, movement pattern, and habitat selection of Bar-headed Geese during breeding season at Qinghai Lake, China
The Bar-headed Goose is an important species in Asia, both culturally and ecologically. While prior studies have shown Qinghai Lake supports one of the largest breeding areas for Bar-headed Geese, little is known regarding the species movement ecology during the breeding season. In this study, we examined Bar-headed Goose home range size within...
Zheng, Ruobing; Smith, Lacy M.; Prosser, Diann J.; Takekawa, John Y.; Newman, Scott H.; Sullivan, Jeffery D.; Luo, Ze; Yan, Baoping
Waterbirds at Risk in the Chesapeake Bay
Scientists investigate the impacts of shoreline armoring
Unusual Suspects: Diving Ducks and Avian influenza
Due to the global threat to health and human safety posed by avian influenza monitoring has been conducted in the United States to determine the prevalence of such viruses in our wild waterfowl.