Photo by Loren Merrill

The Stewart Merrill lab group has moved to the Cary Institute!
Our website is currently undergoing updates.
In the meantime, Tara can be contacted at
stewartmerrillt [at] caryinstitute [dot] org

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The unifying theme of our research is understanding the causes and consequences of parasitism and infectious disease in aquatic ecosystems.

• Why are some hosts susceptible to infection and not others?
• What processes promote or inhibit the spread of parasites and pathogens?
• Why do epidemics start and what constrains their size?

• How does disease affect host fitness?
• Are parasites a significant source of mortality for populations?
• When and how do the suppressive effects of disease scale up to affect communities and ecosystems?

We ask these questions in a variety of aquatic ecosystems, from coastal estuaries and salt marshes to freshwater lakes and ponds. Our research is increasingly addressing theory within the context of environmental change, considering how global climate change, biodiversity loss, and other environmental stressors affect disease processes and impacts.