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Heather Broughton
Wildlife Scientist
Email:
[[w|hmbroughton]]
Social Media:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/broughton_one_health_lab
Focus Areas:
Disease Ecology, Ecoimmunology, One Health, Veterinary Medicine, Epidemiology, Trophic-mediated Disease Interactions, Diseases and Large Carnivores, Human-Wildlife-Disease Conflict
Biography
Heather Broughton (she/hers/her), PhD, DVM is a disease ecologist and veterinarian who takes a One-Health approach to investigate how infectious diseases impact the wellness of humans and wildlife. As human activity continues to drive environmental change worldwide, the threat of infectious disease to every species on the planet continues to grow. As such, Dr. Broughton’s research laboratory works alongside local communities, conservation agencies, government institutions, and with a variety of national and international academic partners to investigate how global environmental change and resulting biodiversity loss contribute to the transmission and maintenance of infectious diseases, as well as the implications for wildlife and human health.
Much of Dr. Broughton’s research focuses on large carnivores, as conservation of these species may be vital for controlling disease outbreaks in human and animal populations due to their critical role in most ecological communities. She is pictured here at left, with Dr. Tanya Jane Kerr, and Dr. Stephanie Edwards Baker helping with sample collection for a field project investigating African lion health, behavior, and demographics in Kruger National Park, South Africa.
She is pictured on the previous page helping with field captures for wild rodents in Filoli Historic Park, California to investigate Lyme disease prevalence as part of a larger study led by Dr. Andrea Swei.
To support this interdisciplinary One Health perspective, Dr. Broughton received broad training from a number of academic institutions including a BS in Animal and Veterinary Sciences with a minor in Spanish from the University of Wyoming (2008); a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from Oregon State University (2012); a PhD in Integrative Biology – Disease Ecology from Oregon State University (2017); and a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Disease Ecology from San Francisco State University (2024). She is also a board certified, practicing veterinarian and a National Geographic Explorer.