Research and teaching in conservation biology and the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases. Major research projects focus on the impact of diseases on wildlife populations and the environmental causes leading to disease emergence. Other projects examine how habitat fragmentation and global climate change result in species extinction.

Awards and Grants:
Current and past support by the Dept. of Agriculture, National Science Foundation, Fauna & Flora International, Quixote Foundation etc.

Research Interests:

I am broadly interested in the ecology and evolution of parasitic organisms and the impact they have on their hosts. Specific research interests include the ecological and physiological factors underlying host-parasite interactions, the dynamics of infectious diseases in natural populations and the importance of disease for the conservation of endangered species. A second area of interest centers on the conservation biology of terrestrial vertebrates. Some of the projects I am currently involved in examine the interactive effects between nutritional stress and infectious diseases on reproduction in passerine birds, and the impact of habitat fragmentation on host-parasite interactions and population extinctions in reptiles. Other research topics have examined the impact of human activities such as habitat modification, climate change and introductions of exotic taxa on the emergence of infectious diseases.

Current/Recent Research:

• Description: Interactive effects of parasitism and food supplementation in a natural population of white-crowned sparrows.
  Funding Agency/Institution: National Science Foundation.
• Description: Ecological and life history characteristics of emerging wildlife pathogens.
  Funding Agency/Institution: Dodge Foundation, Princeton Environmental Institute.
• Description: Effects of Forest Fragmentation on the Distribution and Prevalence of Wildlife Infectious Diseases in the Upper Midwest.
  Funding Agency/Institution: Department of Agriculture

Teaching Interests:
Conservation Biology, Disease Ecology

Current/Recent Teaching:
Courses recently taught include: EEB/ENVIRON 315 - Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (with M. Pascual) ENVIRON 317 - Conservation Biology ENVIRON 139 - Emerging Diseases (First Year Seminar) NRE 517 - Readings in Conservation Biology (with D. Allan)

Selected Publications:

• Valakos, Pafilis, Lymberakis, Sotiropoulos, Maragou, Foufopoulos. 2008. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Greece. Chimaira Editions, Frankfurt Germany. 480pp.
• Gervasi, S. and J. Foufopoulos, 2008. Pond desiccation rate affects immune system responsiveness in a temporary pond breeding amphibian, Rana sylvatica (Wood frog). Functional Ecology 22: 100-108.
• Foufopoulos, J., and G. C. Mayer 2007. The effects of life history on avian immigration and extinction rates. Journal of Biogeography. 34: 1113-1123.
• Gilman, S., Blumstein, D.T, and J. Foufopoulos. 2007. The effect of haemosporidian infections on white-crowned sparrow singing behaviour. Ethology 113(5): 437-445.
• Foufopoulos, J., and S. Richards. 2007. Amphibians and reptiles of New Britain Island, Papua New Guinea: diversity and conservation status. Hamadryad 31(2): 176-201.
• Pafilis, P., J. Foufopoulos, J., Poulakakis, N., Lymberakis, P., and E. Valakos. 2007. Digestive performance in five Mediterranean lizard species: effects of temperature and insularity. Journal of Comparative Physiology B 177(1): 49-60.
• Foufopoulos, J. and R. Brown. 2004. A new frog of the genus Platymantis (Amphibia; Anura; Ranidae) from New Britain, and redescription of the poorly known Platymantis macrosceles. Copeia 4: 825-841.
• Lindstrom, K., Foufopoulos, J., Paern, H., and M. Wikelski. 2004. Immunological investments reflect parasite abundance in island populations of Darwin's finches. Proceedings of the Royal Society (London) 271: 513-519.
• MacDougall-Shackleton, E.A., E. P. Derryberry, J. Foufopoulos, A.P. Dobson, and T. P. Hahn. Parasite-mediated heterozygote advantage in an outbred songbird population. Biology Letters 1: 105-107.
• Foufopoulos, J., S. Altizer, and A. P. Dobson. 2003. Interactions between wildife and domestic lifestock in the Tropics. 219-244 in: Tropical Agroecosystems, J. Vandemeer (ed.), CRC Press
• Dobson, A. P. and J. Foufopoulos. 2001. Emerging infectious pathogens in wildlife. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B., 356: 1001-1012.
• Altizer, S., J. Foufopoulos, and A. Gager. 2001. Disease and Conservation. in Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, S. Levin (ed.) Academic Press 2: 109-129.
• Foufopoulos, J., and A. R. Ives. 1999 Reptile extinctions on land-bridge islands: life history attributes and vulnerability to extinction. American Naturalist, 153(1): 1-25.
• Foufopoulos, J. 1997 The herpetofauna of the Northern Dodecanese (Aegean Sea, Greece) Herpetozoa, 10(1/2): 3-12.
• Ives, A. R., J. Foufopoulos, E. Klopfer, J. Klug, and T. Palmer. 1996 Bottle or big-scale studies: How do we do ecology? Ecology, 77(3): 681-685.