Source Newsroom: South Dakota State University Newswise — When
weather radar shows a funnel cloud, the tornado sirens howl, and
folks run for cover. With outbreaks of West Nile virus, it’s not
that simple. Michael Wimberly, senior scientist at the
Geographic Information Science Center of Excellence at South
Dakota State University, has begun testing an early warning
system for West Nile virus. Through a grant from the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Wimberly has
analyzed satellite imaging data from 2000 to the present day to
build a store of information to predict the future. Key
collaborators in this interdisciplinary effort include professor
Mike Hildreth in biology and microbiology, associate professor
Yi Liu in electrical engineering and computer science, and Ting-
Wu Chuang, a former postdoctoral researcher now at Taiwan
Medical University. Wimberly and Chuang recently published their
findings on climatic variability and West Nile virus outbreaks
in the northern Great Plains in the