Dr. Jory Brinkerhoff
Assistant Professor of Biology
Profile
Grants and Fellowships

Brinkerhoff, R.J.  2012-2014, $35,000.  Population genetic structure of the Lyme disease vector, Ixodes scapularis, at a spatial expansion front.  Thomas F. and Kate Miller Jeffress Memorial Trust.

Presentations

R.J. Brinkerhoff, E.N. Lane*, I. Wazir*, M. Gimpel, and H. Streby.  Life history characteristics of birds influence patterns of tick parasitism.  Wilson Ornithological Society annual meeting, Williamsburg, VA, 2013. 

R.J. Brinkerhoff, W.F. Gilliam*, R. Kelly*, and D. Gaines.  Apparent range expansion of Ixodes scapularis in Virginia – inferences from Lyme disease case data and vector phylogenetic analysis.  Second Tick Summit, U.S. Army Public Health Command and Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Hanover, MD, 2012.

W.F. Gilliam andR.J. Brinkerhoff.  Variation in black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis) density and pathogen infection prevalence at a spatial expansion front.  Ecological Society of America annual meeting, Portland, OR, 2012.

Brinkerhoff, R.J.  Variable Ixodes scapularis density and Borrelia burgdorferi infection prevalence along an elevational gradient in central Virginia.  Inaugural Tick Summit, U.S. Army Public Health Command and Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Hanover MD, 2011.

Publications
Articles

Diuk-Wasser, M.A., A.G. Hoen, P. Cislo, R.J. Brinkerhoff, S.A. Hamer, M. Rowland, R. Cortinas, G. Vourc’h, F. Melton, G.J. Hickling, J.I. Tsao, A.G. Barbour, U. Kitron, J. Piesman, and D. Fish.  2012  Human risk of infection with Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease agent, in eastern United States.  American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 86:320-327.

Brinkerhoff, R.J., C.M. Folsom-O’Keefe, H.M. Streby, S.J. Bent, K. Tsao, and M.A. Diuk-Wasser. Regional variation in tick parasitism on migrating North American songbirds: implications for the spread of the Lyme pathogen, Borrelia burgdorferi. Journal of Medical Entomology (in press).
Brinkerhoff, R.J., A.P. Martin, R.T. Jones, and S.K. Collinge. 2011. Population genetic structure of the prairie dog flea and plague vector, Oropsylla hirsuta.  Parasitology 138: 71-79.
Brinkerhoff, R.J., S.J. Bent, C.M. Folsom-O’Keefe, A.G. Hoen, K. Tsao, A. Barbour, and M.A. Diuk-Wasser.  2010.  Genotypic diversity of Borrelia burgdorferi detected in Ixodes scapularis larvae collected from North American songbirds. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 76: 8265-8268.
Brinkerhoff, R.J., S.K. Collinge, C. Ray, and K.L. Gage. 2010. Rodent and flea abundance fail to predict plague epizootic in black-tailed prairie dogs.  Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases 10: 47-52. (Invited Manuscript)
Brinkerhoff, R.J., C. M. Folsom-O’Keefe, K. Tsao, and M.A. Diuk-Wasser. 2009. Do birds affect Lyme disease risk? Range expansion of the vector-borne pathogen, Borrelia burgdorferi. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. doi: 10.1890/090062
Brinkerhoff, R.J., S.K. Collinge, Y. Bai, and C. Ray. 2009. Are carnivores universally good sentinels of plague? Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases 9: 491-497.
Wilder, A.P., R.J. Eisen, S.J. Bearden, J.A. Montenieri, D.W. Tripp, R.J. Brinkerhoff, K.L. Gage, and M.F. Antolin. 2008. Transmission efficiency of two flea species (Oropsylla tuberculata cynomuris and Oropsylla hirsuta) involved in plague epizootics among prairie dogs. EcoHealth 5: 205-212.
Brinkerhoff, R.J. 2008. Habitat-associated differences in flea assemblages of striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis). Comparative Parasitology, 75:127-131.
Brinkerhoff, R.J., A.B. Markeson, J.H. Knouft., K.L. Gage, and J.A. Montenieri. 2006. Abundance patterns of two Oropsylla [Ceratophyllidae: Siphonaptera] species on black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) hosts. Journal of Vector Ecology 31: 355-363.
Orrock, J.L., B.J. Danielson and R.J. Brinkerhoff. 2004. Rodent foraging is affected by indirect, but not direct, cues of predation risk. Behavioral Ecology 15: 433-437.
Tewksbury, J.J., D.J. Levey, N.M. Haddad, S. Sargent, J.L. Orrock, A. Weldon, B.J. Danielson, J. Brinkerhoff, E.I. Damschen and P. Townsend. 2002. Corridors affect plants, animals and their interactions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 99: 12923-12926.
Chapters

J.E. Childs and R.J. Brinkerhoff.  2012.  Environment and Vector-Borne Diseases In R. Friis, Ed., The Praeger Handbook of Environmental Health, Praeger Publishers. 

Additional Publications
Brinkerhoff, R.J., H. Kabeya, K. Inoue, Y. Bai, and S. Maruyama. 2010. Detection of multiple Bartonella species in digestive and reproductive tissues of fleas collected from sympatric mammals. The ISME Journal 4: 955-958.
Brinkerhoff, R.J., C. Ray, B. Thiagarajan, J.F. Cully, Jr., S.K. Collinge, B. Holmes and K.L Gage. 2008. Prairie dog presence affects disease vector occurrence on small rodents. Ecography 31: 654-662.
Bai, Y., M.Y. Kosoy, C. Ray, R.J. Brinkerhoff, and S.K. Collinge. 2008. Distribution and dynamics of Bartonella infection in colonies of black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus).  Microbial Ecology 56: 373-382.
Brinkerhoff, R.J., N.M. Haddad and J.L. Orrock. 2005. Corridors and olfactory predator cues affect small mammal behavior. Journal of Mammalogy 86: 662-669.
Experts Guide
Education
Ph.D., University of Colorado 2008
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
M.S., North Carolina State University 2002
Zoology
B.S., University of Illinois 1998
Ecology, Ethology, and Evolution
Contact Information
B322 Gottwald Center for the Sciences
(804) 484-1592
Areas of Expertise
Disease ecology
Epidemiology of vector-borne diseases
Host-parasite relationships