Senay Yitbarek

NSF Postdoctoral Fellow

UC Berkeley

About

My research focuses on the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases and invasions. I am broadly interested in the evolutionary ecology of parasites with the overall goal of understanding how disease organisms spread, persist, and affect their host populations.

My current work seeks to understand how multiple infections impact evolutionary outcomes in spatially structured host populations. I am utillzing experimental evolution and mathematical modeling approaches to understand how pathogens modify virulence evolution in changing environments.

I completed my PhD in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan under the mentorship of John Vandermeer. For my dissertation, I combined mathematical and empirical approaches to study the effects of spatial competitive networks on species coexistence patterns. Since 2017, I am an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow in Biology working with Mike Boots in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California Berkeley.

Research

Evolutionary ecology of host-parasite interactions

I am studying the consequences of multiple infections for virulence evolution. Using a joint experimental evolution and modeling approach, I seek to understand how coinfection dynamics shape the evolution of pathogens across different environments.

Plant-Insect interactions and biological invasions in agroecosystems

My PhD research examined the consequences of species invasions on community dynamics.Using invasive ants as a model system, I investigated the role of direct and indirect interactions such as competition and parasitism on resident species. I further developed spatial models to understand under what conditions species can invade communities

Vector behavior and infectious disease dynamics

As part of an international working group, we are investigating the role of general vector traits driving coinfection dynamics in humans, plants, and animals .

Publications

Senay Yitbarek, John H. Vandermeer. Reduction of species coexistence through mixing in a spatial competition model. Theoretical ecology. , 2017.

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Senay Yitbarek, Ivette Perfecto, John H. Vandermeer. From insinuator to dominator: Foraging switching by an exotic ant. Diversity and Distributions. , 2017.

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John H. Vandermeer, Senay Yitbarek. Self-organized spatial pattern determines biodiversity in spatial competition. Journal of Theoretical Biology. , 2012.

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Senay Yitbarek, John H. Vandermeer, Dave Allen. Senay Yitbarek, John H. Vandermeer, Dave Allen. 2011. The Combined Effects of Exogenous and Endogenous Variability on the Spatial Distribution of Ant Communities in a Forested Ecosystem (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Environmental Entomology. , 2011.

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Senay Yitbarek. Reconsidering Invasive Grass and Mowing Impacts on Native Arthropod Populations in a Restored Grassland. The Berkeley McNair Research Journal. , 2008.

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