Dr. Drake received his PhD from the University of Notre Dame in 2004 and began teaching after finishing his Postdoctoral Fellowship at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis in Santa Barbara in 2006. His research seeks to understand the dynamics of biological populations and epidemics, focusing on the integration of theory and experimental or observational data. The practical applications of Dr. Drake’s work include decision support for managing invasive species, mapping the spread of infectious diseases, and forecasting disease emergence. His current projects concern the dynamics of the Ebola virus in West Africa, spread of White-nose Syndrome in bats, and the development of a new theory for early warning systems of emerging infectious diseases.