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Dr. Gill Eastwood
Entomology
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Dr. Gillian Eastwood is a vector-borne disease ecologist, with a focus on enzootic transmission cycles of arboviruses and determining the potential for emergence or spillover of infectious zoonotic diseases. She has around 5 years collective experience living, working and researching overseas, in both Latin America and Africa, largely focused on tropical forest ecosystems.
As a disease ecologist, her passion lies in One Health approaches to address emerging infectious diseases as phenomena deriving not just from separate systems as isolated veterinary or public health problems, but recognizing the intertwined nature of humans, domestic and wildlife animals and the shifting challenged planet on which we all live.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”52175″ img_size=”275×355″ alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_border”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]Dr. Eastwood’s primary interests lie in the impact of drastic tropical forest degradation occurring globally, and the shifting potential for vector-borne disease emergence. At Virginia Tech, her research program has expanded to include a focus on tick-borne pathogens, the vectors of which are burgeoning in population range and abundance, likely linked to climate change, land-use and anthropogenic movement factors. She has collaborators in Kenya, Ecuador and Panama, and looks forward to honing both these relationships and new internal collaborations to address changing scenarios driving the emergence of vector-borne infectious diseases.
Prior to academia, Dr. Eastwood worked as a law enforcement Wildlife Crime Analyst for four years, which exposes huge global impacts as market demand and supply for endangered species (both flora and fauna) as a commodity drives illegal activity. She is keen to collaborate with other interested faculty in recognition of wildlife crime events as a problem threatening species populations across the world, particularly since illegal wildlife trade can lead to disease pathogen spillover.
Dr. Eastwood holds a BS in Psychology & Mathematics (University of Birmingham, UK), MS in Environmental Biology (University of St. Andrews, Scotland), and PhD in Disease & Conservation Ecology (jointly between the University of Leeds and Zoological Society London, UK).
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Recent Relevant Publications
Eastwood G, Sang RC, Lutomiah J, Tunge PK, Weaver SC. (2020) Sylvatic mosquito diversity in Kenya—Considering enzootic ecology of arboviruses in an era of deforestation. INSECTS . 11(6):342. doi:10.3390/insects11060342
Eastwood, G., Donnellycolt, A. K., Shepard, J. J., Misencik, M. J., Bedoukian, R., Cole, L., Armstrong, P.M., Andreadis, T. G. (2019). Evaluation of Novel Trapping Lures for Monitoring Exotic and Native Container-Inhabiting Aedes spp. (Diptera: Culicidae) Mosquitoes. Journal of Medical Entomology. doi:10.1093/jme/tjz200
Kache, P. A., Eastwood, G., Collins-Palmer, K., Katz, M., Falco, R. C., Bajwa, W. I., . . . Diuk-Wasser, M. A. (2019). Environmental Determinants of Aedes albopictus Abundance at a Northern Limit of Its Range in the United States. The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene. doi:10.4269/ajtmh.19-0244
Eastwood, G., Cunningham, A. A., Kramer, L. D., & Goodman, S. J. (2019). The vector ecology of introduced Culex quinquefasciatus populations, and implications for future risk of West Nile virus emergence in the Galapagos archipelago. MEDICAL AND VETERINARY ENTOMOLOGY, 33(1), 44-55. doi:10.1111/mve.12329
Eastwood, G., Camp, J., Chu, Y. K., Sawyer, A. M., Owen, R. D., Cao, X., . . . Jonsson, C. B. (2018). Habitat, species richness and hantaviruses of sigmodontine rodents within the Interior Atlantic Forest, Paraguay. PLOS ONE, 13(8), 20 pages. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0201307
Loaiza, J. R., Dutari, L. C., Rovira, J. R., Sanjur, O. I., Laporta, G. Z., Eastwood, G . . . Pongsiri, M. (2017). Disturbance and mosquito diversity in the lowland tropical rainforest of central Panama. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 7, 13 pages. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-07476-2
Eastwood, G., Sang, R. C., Guerbois, M., Taracha, E. L. N., & Weaver, S. C. (2017). Enzootic Circulation of Chikungunya Virus in East Africa: Serological Evidence in Non-human Kenyan Primates. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE, 97(5), 1399-1404. doi:10.4269/ajtmh.17-0126
Contreras, M., Eastwood, G., Guzman, H., Popov, V., Savit, C., . . . Walker, P. J. (2017). Almendravirus: A Proposed New Genus of Rhabdoviruses Isolated from Mosquitoes in Tropical Regions of the Americas. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE, 96(1), 100-109. doi:10.4269/ajtmh.16-0403[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row]