headshot
Research interests: parasitology, host-parasite interactions, wildlife disease, diversity and inclusion

N122 CB334 Ramaley 

Boulder CO 80309

I am mother, parasite researcher, and driving force for women in science. I am a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point Wildlife Management and Ecology Bachelor Program, Colorado Mountain College Veterinary Technology Associate of Science Program, and Texas A&M University Master of Science Program. I am a Senior Research Associate at the University of Colorado where I specializes in wildlife systematic parasitological studies, specifically host-parasite interactions and ecological consequences of stunning body invaders. Working with decorated scientist Dr. Pieter Johnson, I have published over thirty peer-reviewed scientific papers in renowned journals like PNAS, the Journal of Helminthology, and the International Journal of Parasitology. I have spent over 15 years educating and mentoring over 70 students in the understudied, diverse, and art of parasitology. 
 
I am an active promoter of diversity, equity, and inclusion. I serve as a contractor for Rice University, where I work with Wall Street Journal National Bestselling author and director of Doerr Institute of New Leaders, Dr. Stefanie Johnson. Here I work at the intersection of diversity, inclusion, and science with collaborators like NASA. In this role, I wrote an instructor manual for the Introduction Industrial Organizational Psychology textbook that included a spotlight on diversity, equity, and inclusion. I also am an advocate and active learner for deaf and hearing-impaired children, as my preemie daughter is hard of hearing. In my role as a member of the Executive Committee for Adams County Early Childhood Connections, I bring knowledge of a parent who has specific needs and desires for their child within the educational system. 
 
Outside the academic institution, I enjoy the scenic outdoors of Colorado with my husband Forrest Lacey (Project Scientist at NCAR), daughter Macallynn and our dog Trace. I can also be found savoring beverages at local wineries and breweries, and escaping with a good nonfiction beach read.

Publications:

2022

McDevitt-Galles, T., Moss, W.E., Calhoun, D.M., Briggs, C.J., and Johnson, P.T.J. (2022). How extreme drought events, introduced species, and disease interact to influence threatened amphibian populations. Freshwater Science41 (in press).

Curran, S.S., Calhoun, D.M., Tkach, V.V., Warren, M.B., & Bullard, S.A. (2022). A new species of Prosorhynchoides Dollfus, 1929 (Digenea: Bucephalidae) infecting chain pickerel, Esox niger Lesueur, 1818 (Perciformes: Esocidae), from the Pascagoula River, Mississippi, USA, with phylogenetic analysis and nucleotide-based elucidation of a three-host life cycle. Comparative Parasitology 89, 82-101.

Calhoun, D.M. (2022). Teacher Instructional Manual. Industrial Organizational Psychology. Taylor and Francis.

Stewart-Merrill, T.E., Calhoun, D.M., and Johnson, P.T.J. (2022). Beyond single host, single parasite interactions: Quantifying competence for competence for complete multi-host, mult-parasite communities. Functional Ecology 36, 1845-1857.

2021

Falendysz, E.A., Calhoun, D.M., Smith, C.A., and Sleeman, J.M. (2021). Outside the box: Working with wildife in biocontainment. ILAR Journal ilab025.

2020

Rose. D.P.*, Calhoun. D.M., and Johnson, P.T.J. (2020). Infection prevalence and pathology of the cymothoid parasite Olencira praegustator in Atlantic menhaden. Invertebrate Biology 2020, 00:e12300.

Johnson, P.J.T., Calhoun, D.M., Moss, W.E., McDevitt‐Galles, T., Riepe, T.B., Hallas, J.M., Parchman, T.L., Feldman, C.R., Achatz, T.J., Tkach, V.V. and Cropanzano, J. (2021) The cost of travel: how dispersal ability limits local adaptation in host–parasite interactions. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 34, 512-524.

Johnson, P.T.J., Calhoun, D.M., Riepe, T.B., McDevitt-Galles, T., and Koprivnikar, J. (2020). Community disassembly disease: realistic-but not randomized-biodiversity losses inhibit parasite transmission. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 286, 20190260.

Moss, W.E., McDevitt‐Galles, T., Calhoun, D.M., and Johnson, P.T.J. (2020). Tracking the assembly of nested parasite communities: using β‐diversity to understand variation in parasite richness and composition over time and scale. Journal of Animal Ecology 89, 1532-1542.

McDevitt-Galles, T., Moss, W.E., Calhoun, D.M., and Johnson, P.T.J. (2020). Phenological synchrony shapes pathology in host–parasite systems. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 287, 20192597.

2019

Kohl, Z.F., Calhoun, D.M., Elmer, F., Peachey, R.B.J., Leslie, K.L., Tkach, V., Kinsella, J.M., and Johnson, P.T.J. (2019). Black-spot syndrome in Caribbean fishes linked to trematode parasite infection (Scaphanocephalus expansus). Coral Reefs.

Johnson, P.T.J., Calhoun, D.M., Riepe, T.B., and Koprivnikar, J. (2019). Community disassembly and disease: realistic-- but not randomized-- biodiversity losses enchance parasite transmission. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: 286.

Riepe, T.B., Calhoun, D.M., and Johnson, P.T.J.  (2019). Comparision of direct and indirect technique for evaluating endoparasite infections in wild-caught newts (Taricha torosa and Taricha granulosa). Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 134 137-146.

Stutz, W.E., Calhoun, D.M., and Johnson, P.T.J. (2019). Resistance and tolerance: a hierarchical framework to compare individual versus family-level host contributions in an experimental amphibian-trematode system. Experimental Parasitology 199, 80-91.

Calhoun, D.M., Leslie, K.L., Riepe, T.B., Achatz, T.J., McDevitt-Galles, T., Tkach, V.V., and Johnson, P.T.J. (2019). Patterns of Clinostomum marginatum infection in fishes and amphibians: integration of field, genetic, and experimental approaches. Journal of Helminthology 1-12.

Johnson, P.T.J., Calhoun, D.M., Riepe, T.B., and Koprivnikar, J. (2019). Chance or choice? Understanding parasite selection and infectin in multi-host communites. International Journal of Parasitology 49, 407-415.

2018

Johnson, S.K., Fitza, M.A., Lerner, D.A., Calhoun, D.M., Chan, E.T. and Johnson, P.T.J.  (2018). Risky business: linking Toxoplasma gondii infection and entrepreneurship behaviors across individuals and countries. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 285, 20180822.

McDevitt-Galles, T., Calhoun, D.M., and Johnson, P.T.J. (2018). Parasite richness and abundance within aquatic macroinvertebrates: testing the role of host-and habitat-level factors. Ecosphere 9, e02188.

Calhoun, D.M., McDevitt-Galles, T., and Johnson, P.T.J. (2018). Parasites of invasive freshwater fishes and the factors affecting their richness and abundance. Freshwater Science 37, 134-146.

           PRESS: https://freshwater-science.org/news/in-drift-issue-31-spring-2018

Tornabene, B.J., Blaustein, A.R., Briggs, C.J., Calhoun, D.M., Johnson, P.T.J., McDevitt-Galles, T., Rohr, J.R., and Hoverman, J.T. (2018). Assessing the influence of landscape and environmental factors on ranavirusepidemiology in a California amphibian assemblage. Freshwater Biology 63, 639-651.

Johnson, P.T.J., Calhoun, D.M., Stokes, A.N., Susbilla, C.B., McDevitt-Galles, T., Briggs, C., Hoverman, J.T., Tkach, V., and de Roode, J. (2018). Of poisons and parasites-the defensive role of tetrodotoxin against infections in newts. Journal of Animal Ecology 87, 1192-1204.

Johnson, P.T.J., Stanton, D., Forshay, K., and Calhoun, D.M. (2018). Vertically challenged: how disease suppresses Daphnia vertical migration behavior.  Limnology and Oceanography 63, 886-896.

2017

Hannon, E.R.*, Calhoun, D.M., Chadalawada, S.*, and Johnson, P.T.J. (2017). Circadian rhythms of trematode parasites: applying mixed models to test underlying patterns. Parasitology 1-9.

Calhoun, D.M., Bucciarelli, G.M., Kats, L.B., Zimmer, R.K., and Johnson, P.T.J. (2017). Noxious newts and their natural enemies: experimental effects of tetrodotoxin exposure on trematode parasites and aquatic macroinvertebrates. Toxicon 137, 120-127.

Koprivnikar, J., Riepe, T.B., Calhoun, D.M., and Johnson, P.T.J. (2017). Whether larval amphibians school does not affect the parasite aggregation rule: testing the effects of host spatial heterogeneity in field and experimental studies. Oikos 127, 99-110.

2016

Calhoun, D.M., Woodhams, D., Howard, C.*, LaFonte, B.E.*, Gregory, J.R., and Johnson, P.T.J. (2016). Role of antimicrobial peptides in amphibian defense against trematode infection. EcoHealth 13, 383-391.

McAllister, C.T., Bursey, C.R., and Calhoun, D.M. (2016). Commensal protista, cnidaria and helminth parasites of the Cajun chorus frog, Pseudacris fouquettei (Anura: Hylidae), from Oklahoma. Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Sciences 95.

Hannon, E.R.*, Kinsella, J.M., Calhoun, D.M., Joseph, M.B., and Johnson, P.T.J. (2016). Endohelminths in bird hosts from Northern California and an analysis of the role of life history traits on parasite richness. Journal of Parasitology 102, 199-207.

2015

Calhoun, D.M., Schaffer, P.A., Gregory, J.R., Hardy, K.M.*, and Johnson, P.T.J. (2015). Experimental infections of bluegill with the trematode Ribeiroia ondatrae (Digenea: Cathaemasiidae): histopathology and hematological response. Journal of Aquatic Animal Health 27, 185-191.

2013

Calhoun, D.M., Curran, S.S., Pulis, E.E., Provaznik, J.M., and Franks, J.S. (2013). Hirudinella ventricosa (Pallas, 1774) Baird, 1853 represents a species complex based on ribosomal DNA and affinity of the genus in Hemiurata Skrjabin & Guschanskaja, 1954 base on lsrDNA. Systematic Parasitology 86, 197-208.

2012

Calhoun, D.M., and Dronen, N.O. (2012). A re-evaluation of specimens of Mesocoelium monas (Platyhelminthes: Digenea: Mesocoeliidae) form the National History Museum, UK and the United States National Parasite Collection, USA. Zootaxa 3589, 1-29.

Dronen, N.O., Calhoun, D.M., and Simcik, S.R. (2012). Mesocoelium Ohdner, 1901 (Digenea: Mesocoeliidae) revision of the family and re-evaluation of species composition in the genus. Zootaxa 3387, 1-96.

2011

Calhoun, D.M. (2011). A re-evaluation of the taxonomy of Mesocoelium monas complex (Platyhelminthes: Digenea: Mesocoeliidae). Texas A&M University Masters thesis, 97 pp.

2009

Calhoun, D.M. (2009). ABC’s of a CBC: An introduction to avian and mammalian complete blood count. Wildlife Rehabilitation 26, 133-142.

*undergraduate authors