[Grad-postdoc-assn] Thompson Lecture Series with Dr. Chris Barker, Feb 9-11 -- Schedule, sign up for meetings and potluck

[Angeline Pendergrass]

Dear NCAR Postdocs,

The Thompson Lecture Series (TLS) is coming up on February 9-11, featuring
Dr. Chris Barker, an established but relatively young (by TLS standards)
researcher at UC-Davis who studies climate factors that drive
mosquito-borne virus transmission.

Twice a year, the TLS brings a scientist to NCAR to talk about their work,
make themselves available to talk to postdocs about science and careers,
and provide an opportunity for networking among the postdocs.  The TLS
committee hopes that we can all learn from someone working on such an
interesting application of atmospheric science, and also that a relatively
young scientist will have useful insights on how to build a career in the
current rapidly-evolving funding climate.

The main events are listed below; a more detailed schedule (including
opportunities to sign up for individual meetings) is available on the wiki
<https://wiki.ucar.edu/display/aspthompson08/Schedule+of+events+Chris+Barker>.
Below are Dr. Barker's bio and abstracts for his lectures, which you can
also find on the wiki.

*Monday, Feb 9*
 - General seminar - 11:30-12:30, Foothills main seminar room (1022)
 - Lunch with postdocs - 12:30-2pm, FL Cafeteria
 - Potluck dinner (families welcome!) - 5:30 PM, Mesa Lab Damon Room. Dish
sign up
<https://wiki.ucar.edu/display/aspthompson08/Potluck+dinner+with+Chris+Barker+signup>

*Tuesday, Feb 10*
 - Breakfast and career discussion - 9-10:30 AM, FL 1002
 - Science seminar - 11-12, FL main seminar room
 - Lunch with postdocs - 12:30-2pm, FL Cafeteria
 - Informal dinner out - 5:30 PM, Sign up here
<https://wiki.ucar.edu/display/aspthompson08/Schedule+of+events+Chris+Barker>

*Wednesday, Feb 11*
 - Breakfast and science discussion with postdocs - 9-10:30am, Mesa Lab
Tower B 680 (penthouse)

You can sign up for individual meetings and the potluck dinner at the wiki
<https://wiki.ucar.edu/display/aspthompson08/Thompson+Lecture+visit+with+Chris+Barker>.
Don't be afraid to sign up just because your science interests are
different than the speaker's! You will hopefully find that he has a breadth
of interests and can also offer you interesting insights on your career
development.  If you have trouble accessing the wiki, please send me an
email and we'll work it out.

We will send out more reminders as we get closer, but please go ahead and
fill up those slots!  And please don't hesitate to send an email if you
have any questions.

Best,

Angie, Micah, Colin, Minghui, Andreas (the TLS committee)


PS - ASPs, recall that attending TLS events is mandatory if you're in town!



*Bio*
Chris Barker has studied the ecology and epidemiology of mosquitoborne
viruses for the last 17 years, with a particular interest in the effects of
climate on mosquito and disease dynamics. He applies modeling approaches
that draw on rich field and laboratory data sets, particularly in
California, to provide a better understanding of the mechanisms that drive
virus transmission and to translate observable data into epidemiologically
relevant risk estimates for human health. He is particularly interested in
research to inform public health policy, and he works closely with public
health partners at local, state, and national levels on issues related to
surveillance and control of invasive mosquitoes and West Nile virus.


*“General” seminar (Monday 11:30 @Foothills):*Mosquitoborne viruses are
affected uniquely by climate, due in part to the time the pathogen must
spend in vectors that vary with ambient temperature. Some of these effects
are widely accepted: warm temperatures accelerate mosquito development,
pathogen replication, and other physiological rates, and water availability
from precipitation or anthropogenic sources defines habitat for immature
mosquitoes. However, geographic and temporal variation in the effects of
climate is huge, with many nuances. Also, available climate and
surveillance data, even in data-rich locations, do not always match what we
would like to know. In this presentation, I will review the mechanisms
driving the transmission dynamics of mosquitoborne viruses such as West
Nile virus, and I will discuss possible ways to make early warning and
early detection systems more policy relevant.



*“Science” seminar (Tuesday 11 @Foothills):*The Asian tiger mosquito, *Aedes
albopictus*, is among the world’s most invasive species. Its spread has
been facilitated by rapid global transport of cargo and potentially by the
warming of climate, and it is now established on every continent except
Antarctica. This species represents a “triple threat” to human health,
being a day-biting pest, a competent vector of globally important dengue
and chikungunya viruses, and a potential bridge vector of several zoonotic
arboviruses.

As a result of its importance, the biology of *Ae. albopictus* is also
well-studied, but the fine-scale processes by which it becomes established
in a given location are poorly understood. This is because even intensive
surveillance systems yield limited information during the early phase of
invasions when densities are low, and detection often occurs after
populations are relatively widespread. Fine-scale spatial models for
mosquito dynamics and movement offer a way forward, marrying our
understanding of *Ae. albopictus* biology with surveillance paradigms and
detailed data on the real landscapes where invasions occur.

In this presentation, I will consider the impacts of climate on the biology
of *Ae. albopictus* and explore their implications for the ongoing invasion
and establishment of *Ae. albopictus* in Los Angeles since 2011. We have
used hierarchical modeling to account for heterogeneities in
household-level suitability, then we modeled the stochastic dynamics of Ae.
albopictus on this landscape using the suitability surface and a
temperature-dependent, dynamical model for reproduction and spread. I will
discuss the modeling approach and use the model results to answer
policy-relevant questions related to our ability to detect and control
these highly invasive mosquitoes.
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