University of California, Santa Barbara

Kevin D. Lafferty

Senior Ecologist, US Geological Survey & Adjunct Faculty, UCSB

I grew up in Southern California, but left as soon as it was legally possible. I’ve been in Santa Barbara since 1981, where I got a bachelor’s degree in aquatic biology, then a master’s degree in zoology, then a PhD. in ecology, then eventually I found a job that would let me stay forever. I’m lucky to now have a permanent GS-15 research position with the world-renowned US Geological Survey. My main expertise is with parasites. I also work on the conservation of threatened species like snowy plovers, abalone, tidewater gobies, and sea otters. I don’t presently teach any courses, but I do mentor students getting their PhD in ecology at UCSB. My wife runs a nature reserve a couple miles from the UCSB campus where I work at the Marine Science Institute. We also run our own 160 acre nature reserve in the Santa Ynez Mountains. Our two daughters keep us busy. I get to travel to some amazing places and SCUBA dive when I work. For fun, I surf near campus and during my travels.

External Website/s:

Where I live at Coal Oil Point

Our Paradise Reserve

Our UCSB lab group

My USGS web page

Email:

Lafferty@lifesci.ucsb.edu

Phone:

805 893 8778

Mailing Address:

UCSB Marine Science Institute Bldg 520 Rm 4002 Fl 4L Santa Barbara, CA 93106-6150 United States

Publications

Behrens, M. D., & Lafferty, K. D.. (2004). Effects of marine reserves and urchin disease on southern Californian rocky reef communities. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 279, 129-139.

Huspeni, T. C., & Lafferty, K. D.. (2004). Using larval trematodes that parasitize snails to evaluate a saltmarsh restoration project. Ecological Applications, 14(3), 795-804.

Lafferty, K. D.. (2004). Fishing for lobsters indirectly increases epidemics in sea urchins. Ecological Applications, 14(5), 1566-1573.

Lafferty, K. D., Porter, J. W., & Ford, S. E.. (2004). Are diseases increasing in the ocean?. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 31-54.

McCallum, H. I., Kuris, A., Harvell, C. D., Lafferty, K. D., Smith, G. W., & Porter, J.. (2004). Does terrestrial epidemiology apply to marine systems?. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 19(11), 585-591.

Ward, J. R., & Lafferty, K. D.. (2004). The elusive baseline of marine disease: are diseases in ocean ecosystems increasing. PLoS Biol, 2(4), e120.

Choisy, M., Brown, S. P., Lafferty, K. D., & Thomas, F.. (2003). Evolution of trophic transmission in parasites: why add intermediate hosts?. The American Naturalist, 162(2), 172-181.

Lafferty, K. D., & Holt, R. D.. (2003). How should environmental stress affect the population dynamics of disease?. Ecology Letters, 6(7), 654-664.

Lafferty, K. D.. (2003). Is disease increasing or decreasing, and does it impact or maintain biodiversity. Journal of Parasitology, 89, s101-s105.

Packer, C., Holt, R. D., Hudson, P. J., Lafferty, K. D., & Dobson, A. P.. (2003). Keeping the herds healthy and alert: implications of predator control for infectious disease. Ecology Letters, 6(9), 797-802.

Torchin, M. E., Lafferty, K. D., Dobson, A. P., McKenzie, V. J., & Kuris, A. M.. (2003). Introduced species and their missing parasites. Nature, 421(6923), 628-630.

Lafferty, K. D., & Gerber, L. R.. (2002). Good medicine for conservation biology: the intersection of epidemiology and conservation theory. Conservation Biology, 16(3), 593-604.

Lafferty, K. D., Lewis, E. E., Campbell, J. F., & Sukhdeo, M. V. K.. (2002). Interspecific interactions in trematode communities. The behavioural ecology of parasites, 153-169.

Torchin, M. E., Lafferty, K. D., & Kuris, A. M. . (2002). Parasites and marine invasions. Parasitology, 124(07), 137-151.

Lafferty, K. D., & Kuris, A. M.. (2002). Trophic strategies, animal diversity and body size. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 17(11), 507-513.

Torchin, M. E., Lafferty, K. D., & Kuris, A. M.. (2001). Release from parasites as natural enemies: increased performance of a globally introduced marine crab. Biological Invasions, 3(4), 333-345.

Kuris, A. M., & Lafferty, K. D.. (2000). Parasite-host modeling meets reality: adaptive peaks and their ecological attributes. Evolutionary biology of host–parasite relationships: theory meets reality, 9-26.

Kuris&L_Banyuls 2000 .pdf

Lafferty, K. D., Thomas, F., & Poulin, R. . (2000). Evolution of host phenotype manipulation by parasites and its consequences. Evolutionary biology of host–parasite relationships: theory meets reality. Elsevier Science, Amsterdam, 117-127.

Lafferty, K. D., & Kuris, A. M.. (1999). How environmental stress affects the impacts of parasites. Limnology and Oceanography, 44(3), 925-931.

Lafferty, K. D. . (1999). The evolution of trophic transmission. Parasitology Today, 15(3), 111-115.

Bush, A. O., Lafferty, K. D., Lotz, J. M., & Shostak, A. W.. (1997). Parasitology meets ecology on its own terms: Margolis et al. revisited. The Journal of parasitology, 575-583.

Lafferty, K. D.. (1997). Environmental parasitology: what can parasites tell us about human impacts on the environment?. Parasitology Today, 13(7), 251-255.

Lafferty, K. D.. (1997). The ecology of parasites in a salt marsh ecosystem. In Parasites and Pathogens (pp. 316-332). Springer US.

Lafferty, K. D., & Morris, A. K.. (1996). Altered behavior of parasitized killifish increases susceptibility to predation by bird final hosts. Ecology, 77(5), 1390-1397.

Lafferty, K. D., & Kuris, A. M.. (1996). Biological control of marine pests. Ecology, 1989-2000.

Kuris, A. M., & Lafferty, K. D.. (1994). Community structure: larval trematodes in snail hosts. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 189-217.

Lafferty, K. D., Sammond, D. T., & Kuris, A. M.. (1994). Analysis of larval trematode communities. Ecology, 2275-2285.

Lafferty, K. D., & Kuris, A. M.. (1993). Mass mortality of abalone Haliotis cracherodii on the California Channel Islands: tests of epidemiological hypotheses. Marine Ecology-Progress Series, 96, 239-239.

Lafferty, K. D.. (1993). The marine snail, Cerithidea californica, matures at smaller sizes where parasitism is high. Oikos, 3-11.

Lafferty, K. D.. (1993). Effects of parasitic castration on growth, reproduction and population dynamics of the marine snail Cerithidea californica. MARINE ECOLOGY-PROGRESS SERIES, 96, 229-229.

Kuris, A. M., & Lafferty, K. D.. (1992). Modelling crustacean fisheries: effects of parasites on management strategies. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 49(2), 327-336.

Lafferty, K.D.. (1992). Foraging on prey that are modified by parasites. American Naturalist, 854-867.

Hudson, P. J., Dobson, A. P., & Lafferty, K. D. . (2006). Is a healthy ecosystem one that is rich in parasites?. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 21(7), 381-385.

Kaplan, A. T., Rebhal, S., Lafferty, K. D., & Kuris, A. M.. (2009). Small estuarine fishes feed on large trematode cercariae: lab and field investigations. Journal of Parasitology, 95(2), 477-480.