Katriona Shea | |
---|---|
Alma mater |
University of Oxford (BA) Imperial College London (PhD) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Ecology [1] |
Institutions |
CSIRO Pennsylvania State University University of California, Santa Cruz University of California, Santa Barbara |
Thesis | Matrix Models in Population Ecology (1994) |
Doctoral advisor | Michael Hassell [2] |
Website |
bio |
Katriona Shea is a British-American ecologist. She is currently the endowed Alumni Chair of Biology Science at Eberly College of Science, Pennsylvania State University. [1] [3]
Shea studied physics at New College, Oxford, and graduated in 1990. [4] She joined Imperial College London where she completed a Natural Environment Research Council sponsored PhD in population ecology. Her thesis, Matrix Models in Population Ecology, was supervised by Michael Hassell. [2]
After completing her PhD, Shea joined University of California, Santa Barbara as a postdoctoral researcher working with Robert Nisbet and Bill Murdoch. [4] In 1996 she joined the CSIRO Cooperative Research Centre for Weed Management. She was invited to work at the Australian National University between 1996 and 1997. [4] In 1999 she returned to California, working at University of California, Santa Cruz with Marc Mangel. [5] She explored decision theory in conservation biology. [6]
In 2001 Shea was appointed Assistant Professor at Pennsylvania State University. She became a professor in 2011. [4] Her research uses ecological theory in population management. [7] [1] [8] She helps conservation efforts as well as the control of invasive diseases and pests. [9] She has worked in rainforests in Guyana and the Serengeti National Park. [9]
Shea uses a range of empirical and quantitive methods to study ecology of outbreaking species. [10] [11] She worked with Matthew Ferrari on adaptive management to combine scientific understanding with policy development. [9] [12] [13] She has studied the way to manage populations during the Ebola outbreaks. [14] [15] They used adaptive management to retrospectively study measles outbreaks. [16] She demonstrated that speedy interventions by policymakers can limit the health and cost impact of outbreaks. [9] In 2016 she was elected a fellow of the Ecological Society of America. [17] Shea has contributed to The Conversation and Science. [18] [19]