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2023 Robert Jonas Lecture in Biological Sciences

Integrating Health into Global Conservation

Sarah Olson.

By Sarah Olson, PhD
Tuesday, March 21
6:30 p.m.
CUB Junior Ballroom
WSU Pullman
& on YouTube

Free • Everyone Welcome!


Conservation and public health expert Sarah Olson directs health research for the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Health Program and provides leadership and research support to field veterinarians and conservation staff around the world.

Her research with WCS has focused on front-line wildlife conservation and One Health challenges, including the wildlife trade and emerging infectious diseases; Ebola virus in great apes and bats; avian influenza in wild birds; and white-nose syndrome in North American bats. Her current work focuses on understanding and mitigating wildlife health and zoonotic disease threats, often associated with anthropogenic drivers, and developing sustainable and effective wildlife health surveillance systems.

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Sponsors: WSU Zoology Club, School of Biological Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences

If you need accommodations to fully participate in this event, please contact Jesse Brunner at jesse.brunner@wsu.edu at least five business days in advance.


The Robert Jonas Lectureship Fund was established with the WSU Foundation in 2006 and named in memory of a beloved WSU professor of biology. It provides annual support for the School of Biological Sciences to host a seminar speaker chosen by undergraduate members of the Zoology Club to address a conservation or environment-related topic.

A bat held in gloved hands.
Hammer-headed bats, Hypsignathus monstrosus, are among the largest fruit bat species in Africa and are excellent seed dispersers, critical to forest health. Sarah Olson used GPS tracking to study their movement ecology as a step toward understanding how they respond to human activities in their home range and what may increase the viral shedding of pathogens like Ebola. (Photo by Sarah Olson)