Advancing Ecology and Environmental Data Science for a More Just and Equitable Future

Join us for an NCEAS seminar series motivated by conversations about how we can foster diversity and inclusion within our scientific community, while also designing research questions and approaches to promote environmental justice and equity across our broader community. The speakers will share their research approaches and findings as they relate to the intersections of ecology, environmental data science, equity, and environmental justice. 

Environment by Everything Interactions in Disease Ecology: 
From Indirect Infection to Incarceration, and Beyond

Brandon Ogbunu, Ph.D.

Wednesday, May 4, 2022
11:30am - 12:30pm PDT 
Zoom Event | Learn more & RSVP to Brandon's talk

In this seminar, Brandon Ogbunu will introduce the concept of “environment by everything interactions,” which considers the many ways that context underlies biological and social maladies. Case examples drive the discussion, ranging from viral disease emergence, to opioid use disorder, and mass incarceration.

Brandon Ogbunu Ph.D. (@big_data_kane)

C. Brandon Ogbunu is an assistant professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University. His research takes place at the intersection of evolutionary biology, genetics, and epidemiology. He uses experimental evolution, mathematical modeling, and computational biology to better understand the underlying causes and consequences of disease, across scales: from the biophysics of proteins involved in drug resistance to the social determinants driving epidemics at the population level. In doing so, he aims to develop theory that enriches our understanding of the evolutionary and ecological underpinnings of disease, while contributing to practical solutions for clinical medicine and public health. He completed his Ph.D. at Yale University in 2010 and postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard University and the Broad Institute. He has been the recipient of the UNCF-Merck, the Broad Institute Diversity Fellowship and the Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship. He is now at Yale University after two years on the faculty at Brown University. Brandon is also currently a visiting research scientist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.