I investigate how the interaction between pathogens, hosts and the environment leads to disease. She develops spatial and temporal statistical models of disease risk on a variety of systems (e.g., mosquitoes and West Nile virus disease, dengue, and canine heartworm; biting midges and bluetongue; fleas and plague; ticks and tularemia). Leaning on the tools of multiple disciplines, I incorporate remotely sensed data such as land use characterization, meteorological data from weather stations, epidemiological findings, field collections, and laboratory experimentation to understand how vectors and hosts interact and how these interactions are influenced by the environment. Because my work focuses on how the environment influences disease risk, it naturally follows for me to investigate issues of climate change and health.

My research continues to look at environmental drivers of the spatial and temporal patterns of vector-borne diseases. In the Applied Climate for Environment and Society (ACES) Lab, I am specifically looking into the role of climate change and health.http://www.u.arizona.edu/~heidibrown/

Teaching "Introduction to Health Science Statistics"

Adjunct Facutly teaching 'Introduction to Geographic Information Systems'

Working in the Bacterial Diseases Branch, I developed risk maps for tick- and flea-borne diseases.

I joined the Spatial Ecology and Epidemiology Research Group to further my skills at incorporating remotely sensed information into disease risk models. My project focused on the emerging Bluetongue virus (BTV) epizootic that was spreading in Northwestern Europe. We also investigated the role of wind in midge dispersal (the BTV vector) and found that, contrary to the axiom, active flight has a significant role in vector dispersion.