Lunch & Learn with Ivana Schoepf

My best frenemy? Why we may need to learn to love parasites

Parasites are widespread in nature. Almost half of all animal species living today are parasites. Yet, most of us recoil in horror when we hear the word “parasite” as it tends to conjure up all sorts of nasty images, more in tune with some elaborate science fiction nightmare, than anything related to our everyday life. This prevailing negative view of parasites has resulted in parasites being largely excluded from conservation efforts. Yet parasites play a critical role in the ecosystem. So, are we getting it wrong? In this Lunch & Learn, Ivana Schoepf will introduce the emerging field of conservation parasitology, talk about why parasites are more beneficial than we give them credit for, and discuss how we may need to rethink how we feel about parasites if we want to preserve the diversity of life on Earth.

Ivana (Ivy) Schoepf, PhD (University) is assistant professor in integrative biology at the University of Alberta Augustana Campus.  Ivy’s expertise is in evolutionary ecology and she has held post-doctoral fellowships at Queen’s University in Kingston (Canada) and at the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg (South Africa). Her primary area of research is hot-parasite co-evolution and human-wildlife coexistence.