Felicia Keesing

David & Rosalie Rose Distinguished Professor of the Sciences, Mathematics, and Computing

My research focuses on the ecology of infectious diseases in New York's Hudson Valley and in the savannas of central Kenya. I do a lot of research with undergraduate students at Bard College, who frequently find the answers to questions no one has ever asked before -- and often motivate me to take my research in entirely new directions. I love to teach, too. Over the years, my approach in the classroom has been transformed by my learning how to teach so that students practice doing rather than just listening.
Current students
  • Sarah Weiner -- effects of climate on the spread of Lyme disease
  • Nick George -- distribution of wolf spiders in relation to tick abundance
  • Molly Woolery -- tick abundance as a function of natural enemies of ticks
  • Lauren Bannon --  determining risk for horses of exposure to tick-borne pathogens
Some lab alumni
• Brian Allan
• Darcy Ogada
• Jake Goheen
• Michelle Hersh
• Marta Shocket
• Luke Henry
• Parris Humphrey
• Dylan Dahan
• Doug McCauley
Current collaborators
• Rick Ostfeld
• Brian Allan
• Phil Pardi
• Taal Levi
• Dustin Brisson
• Mike Levy
• Kurt Vandegrift
• Barbara Han
• Pete Hudson
• Amit Kapoor
• Sharon Okanga
• Heather Tallis
• Becky Chaplin-Kramer
• Spencer Wood
• Ginger Kowal
• Steve Huckett
• Alan Berkowitz
• Bruce Robertson
Other contacts
• Bard biology faculty
• The Science Division at Bard
• Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies