Ashley Love

Education

Ph.D., Integrative Biology, Oklahoma State University (2019)

B.S., Biological Sciences, Wildlife Science, Virginia Tech (2013)

Biography

I am a disease ecologist, and my research focuses on understanding why hosts vary in how they respond to and transmit pathogens and parasites. My lab integrates concepts and techniques from diverse fields including endocrinology, immunology, animal behavior, microbiology, and nutritional ecology to understand how social, environmental, and early-life developmental factors influence host behavioral and immunological defenses against parasites.

Ongoing and future research areas in my lab include:

1. Investigating the role of parental effects in shaping offspring behavior, immunity, and susceptibility to parasites
2. Characterizing how cues indicative of infection risk (such as perceiving sick conspecifics) influence behavior, physiology, and susceptibility to infectious agents
3. Exploring the role of diet and host gut microbiota in shaping host health and host-parasite interactions
4. Identifying factors influencing the prevalence, intensity, and diversity of parasites in wild birds

Publications

• Love, AC, M Nahom, J Gutierrez, L Albert, SA Knutie. 2024. An early-life disruption of gut microbiota has opposing effects on parasite resistance in two host species. Molecular Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17595
• Knutie, SA, R Bahouth, M Bertone, C Webb, M Mehta, M Nahom, R Barta; S Ghai, AC Love, S Horan, A Soldo, E Cochrane, J Bartholomew, E Cowan, H Bjerke, S Balenger, M Butler, A Cornell, A Kennedy, V Rolland, E Schultz, M Stanback, C Taff, G Albery. 2024. Understanding spatiotemporal effects of food supplementation on host-parasite interactions using community-based science. Journal of Animal Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.14155
• Love, AC, V Tabb, NH Youssef, SM Wilder, SE DuRant. 2024. Effect of dietary macronutrients and immune challenge on gut microbiota, physiology, and feeding behavior in zebra finches. Molecular Ecology 33: e17428.
• Solomon, G, AC Love, GJ Vaziri, J Harvey, T Verrett, K Chernicky, S Simons, L Albert, J Chaves, SA Knutie. 2023. Effect of urbanization and parasitism on the gut microbiota of Darwin’s finch nestlings. Molecular Ecology 32: 6059-6069.
• Love, AC, AC Anthony, A Nash, A Campos-Melara, J Kodali, SE DuRant. 2023. Simulated infection shapes individual and social behaviors in pair-bonded songbirds and their healthy neighbors. Behavioral Ecology 34: 251-260.
• Love, AC, K Grisham, JB Krall, CG Goodchild, SE DuRant. 2021. Perception of infection: disease-related social cues influence immunity in songbirds. Biology Letters 17: 20210125.
• Love, AC, MB Lovern, SE DuRant. 2017. Captivity influences immune responses, stress endocrinology, and organ size in house sparrows (Passer domesticus). General and Comparative Endocrinology 252: 18-26.
• Love, AC, S Foltz, JS Adelman, IT Moore, DM Hawley. 2016. Changes in corticosterone concentrations and behavior during Mycoplasma gallisepticum infection in house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus). General and Comparative Endocrinology 235: 70-77.

Courses Taught

• BIO 206W: Evolutionary Biology
• BIO 465W/565: Animal Behavior