The Park lab is recruiting a disease ecology modeling student to the PhD Ecology program at UGA for Fall 2026 to join an NIH funded, multi-institution project studying bat-virus dynamics in Kenya and Belize (https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11138714).

The broad project aims are to understand spatial patterns of human/domestic animal pathogen exposure risk, via integration of bat building use and viral shedding. The student research areas include: (1) development of Bayesian state space models for multiple bat viruses and (2) analysis of how bat displacement affects viral community composition (3) initiation of new modeling research projects that fit within the theme of the research team’s aims

Interested applicants should send a CV and a one-page letter (to awpark@uga.edu) that describes their potential to succeed in areas 1 and 2, and should outline ideas they would be interested in exploring for area 3. In addition, they should formally apply via the graduate school (https://grad.uga.edu/prospective-students/) by 1st December 2025.