Matt Thomas, Ph.D.

The Thomas Lab Website
Detailed information on research and publications can be found at this website.

Department Focus Areas

• Ecological Applications
• Disease Ecology & Biology

Senior Research Associates

• Simon Blanford 
• Nina Jenkins

Postdoctoral Scholars

• Jon Darbro (Postdoc at QIMR, Australia)
  

Research Fellows

• Krijn Paaijmans (Postdoc Fellow, joint with Andrew Read)

Ph.D. Students

• Rob Anderson
• Katey Glunt
• Megan Greischar (from August 2009)

Senior Research Assistants

• Brian Chan
  

Research

Our research explores many aspects of the ecology and evolution of ‘enemy-victim’ interactions with the aim of better understanding the consequences of global change (climate change, invasive species, biodiversity loss) and improving the effectiveness and sustainability of pest and disease management. We combine empirical and theoretical approaches to address issues of fundamental and applied significance.

Historically the research has centered around three main themes:

(i)  Ecology and evolution of host-pathogen interactions.

(ii)  Predicting and understanding the impact of invasive species (including non-target effects of biocontrol agents).

(iii)  Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning; especially the role of natural enemy diversity in provision of pest control services.

Since moving to Penn State in January 2008, most of our research has focused on the first theme with a particular emphasis on mosquito-pathogen and mosquito-parasite interactions. As our lab becomes more established, we hope to broaden activities to consider other systems and the other themes.

Key questions include:

• How does environmental temperature affect host resistance and parasite/pathogen virulence?
• Can we exploit pathogens or parasites to alter the ability of vectors to transmit disease and to develop biological pesticides that will not be undermined by evolution of resistance by the vector?
• Can biological pesticides be used to slow development of resistance of pests and vectors to conventional chemical insecticides?
• How will subtle changes in environmental conditions (e.g. through climate change) affect ability of insect vectors to transmit diseases?
• What is the relationship between natural enemy diversity and biological control and what are the consequences of biodiversity loss (e.g. through intensification) for natural pest control services?
• What is the relationship between biodiversity and disease risk?
• What is the importance of enemy release in the emergence of pests and diseases and in determining the ecological and economic significance of invasive species?
• What is the impact of invasive species and how can we combine ecological and economic insights to develop improved biosecurity practice?
• What factors determine the adoption (or often non-adoption) of novel pest control strategies?
• What are the consequences of sub-lethal infections for insect population dynamics and can we exploit sub-lethal diseases for novel pest control or to prevent spread of an invasive species?

Publications

Darbro, J., & Thomas, M.B. (in press). Spore persistence and likely aeroallergenicity of entomopathogenic fungi used for mosquito control. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Koella, J.C., Lynch, P.A., Thomas, M.B. & Read, A.F. (in press). Towards evolution-proof malaria control with insecticides. Evolutionary Applications.

Cardinale, B., Duffy, E., Srivastava, D., Loreau, M., Thomas, M.B. & Emmerson, M., (in press). Towards a food-web perspective on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. In: Biodiversity and Human Impacts (S. Naeem, D. Bunker, A. Hector, M. Loreau and C. Perrings, eds.). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.

Engelhardt, K., Symstad, A., Prieur-Richard, A-H. & Thomas, M.B. (in press). Opening communities to colonization – The impacts of invaders on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. In: Biodiversity and Human Impacts (S. Naeem, D. Bunker, A. Hector, M. Loreau and C. Perrings, eds.). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.

Jackson, L.E., Rosenstock, T., Thomas, M.B., Wright, J. & Symstad, A. (in press). Managed ecosystems: biodiversity and ecosystem functions in landscapes modified by human use. In: Biodiversity and Human Impacts (S. Naeem, D. Bunker, A. Hector, M. Loreau and C. Perrings, eds.). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.

Ostfeld, R.S., Thomas, M.B. & Keesing, F. (in press). Biodiversity and ecosystem function: perspectives on disease. In: Biodiversity and Human Impacts (S. Naeem, D. Bunker, A. Hector, M. Loreau and C. Perrings, eds.). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.

2009

Blanford, S., Read, A.F. & Thomas, M.B. (2009). Thermal behaviour of Anopheles stephensi in response to infection with malaria and fungal entomopathogens. Malaria Journal. (provisional)

Read, A.F., Lynch, P.A. & Thomas, M.B. (2009). How to make evolution-proof insecticides for malaria control. PLoS Biology 7(4).

Bell, A.S., Blanford, S., Jenkins, N.E., Thomas, M.B. & Read, A.F. (2009). Real-time quantitative PCR for analysis of candidate fungal biopesticides against malaria: technique validation and first applications. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology 100, 160-169.

Thomas, M.B., Lafferty, K.D. & Friedman, C.S. (2009). Biodiversity and disease. In: Biodiversity Change and Human Health: From Ecosystem Services to Spread of Disease. Eds. Sala, O., Meyerson, L.A. and Parmesan, C. Island Press, Washington, pp 229-244.

Wilby, A., Mitchell, C., Blumenthal, D., Daszak, P., Friedman, C.S., Jutro, P., Mazumder, A., Prieur-Richard, A-H., Desprez-Loustau, M.L., Sharma, M. & Thomas, M.B. (2009). Biodiversity, food provision and human well-being. In: Biodiversity Change and Human Health: From Ecosystem Services to Spread of Disease. Eds. Sala, O., Meyerson, L.A. and Parmesan, C. Island Press, Washington, pp 13-40.

Meyerson, L.M., Sala, O., Froment, A., Friedman, C.S., Hund-Rinke, K., Martens, P., Mazumder, A., Purohit, A., Thomas, M.B. & Wilby A. (2009). Allocation of biodiversity to sustainably improve human health and well-being. In: Biodiversity Change and Human Health: From Ecosystem Services to Spread of Disease. Eds. Sala, O., Meyerson, L.A. and Parmesan, C. Island Press, Washington, pp 83-98.

Yokomizo, H., Possingham, H.P., Thomas, M.B. & Buckley, Y.M. (2009). Managing the impact of invasive species: the value of knowing the density–impact curve. Ecological Applications 19, 376-386.

Read, A.F. & Thomas, M.B. (2009). Mosquitoes cut short. Science 323, 51-52.

Hancock, P.A., Thomas, M.B., Godfray, H.C.J. (2009). An age-structured model to evaluate the potential of novel malaria-control interventions: a case study of fungal biopesticide sprays. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 276, 71-80.

2008

Griffiths, G.J.K., Wilby, A., Crawley, M.J. & Thomas, M.B. (2008). Density-dependent effects of predator species-richness in diversity-function studies. Ecology 89, 2986–2993.

Baker, R.H.A., Black, R., Copp, G.H., Hulme, P.E. Haysom, K.A., Thomas, M.B. et al. (2008). The UK risk assessment scheme for all non-native species. In: Biological Invasions. Eds. Rabitsch, W., F. Essl and F. Klingenstein. pp 46-57.

Baker, R.H.A., Black, R., Copp, G.H., Hulme, P.E. Haysom, K.A., Thomas, M.B. et al. (2008). Developing a risk assessment scheme for all UK non-native species. Neobiota 7, 46-57.

Griffiths, G.J.K., Holland, J.M., Bailey, A. & Thomas, M.B. (2008). The efficacy and economics of shelter habitats for conservation biological control. Biological Control 45, 200-209.