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Krysten Schuler

Krysten Schuler

I am a wildlife disease ecologist interested in the health of wildlife populations and associations with human and domestic animal activities and diseases. Most broadly, I focus on conserving free-ranging species for current and future generations use and enjoyment. This involves a multi-disciplinary approach involving risk analysis, field studies, human dimensions, and laboratory experiments.

Since 2011, I have worked with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation on the cooperative New York State Wildlife Health Program. Prior to relocating to New York, I served as a field epidemiologist with the U.S. Geological Survey – National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin investigating wildlife mortality events and training biologists in wildlife health around the country.

My current projects are quite diverse in scope and species. I head up the New York State Interagency Working Group on chronic wasting disease, which has produced surveillance, response and prevention plans in recent years to ensure that all measures are taken to avoid reintroduction of the disease to New York, be able to detect disease at the earliest possible instance, and be ready to react once the disease is found in wild or captive cervids. I have projects looking at moose health in the Adirondacks region, geographical epidemiology of bear mange, white-tailed deer fawn survival, historical accounts of lead in bald eagles, and chytrid fungus in eastern hellbenders.

I also have some collaborations with agencies and universities outside of New York and am willing to consult on interesting projects including diagnostic testing, test development, statistical analysis, and field studies. Some of the themes I’m interested in are exploring the public trust responsibilities of agencies in addressing wildlife health as part of their mandate to protect both present and future resources.

I enjoy educating students, wildlife professionals, and the public about wildlife health and understanding the contributing factors to disease outbreaks. 

In general, I think wildlife health needs to move from an attitude of helplessness or apathy to a precautionary principle (prevent introduction of new pathogens that may represent a risk for wildlife without delaying action until scientific consensus is available) that involves all affected parties and examines a suite of options for risk mitigation.

Select Publications

2025

Anticoagulant rodenticides and fisher populations in the northeastern U.S. . Silveira G, Frair JL, Cohen J, Watson A, Tate P, Royar K, Bernier C, Schuler K. . Journal of Wildlife Management
Environmental contaminants assessment for frequently harvested migratory waterfowl in the Northeast Atlantic Flyway . Dayan D, Hanley B, Stiller J, Richter W, Gregg I, Huck N, Huang M, Nichols T, Spliethoff H, Becker J, Murphy L, Schuler K. . Science of the Total Environment

2024

Sample size calculator for declaring a population free of infectious disease (Version 1) [Software] . Hanley, B.J., Booth, J.G., Hodel, F.H., Thompson, N.E., Bloodgood, J.C.G., Dion, J.P., Van de Berg, S., Gonzalez-Crespo, C., Huang, Y., Wang, J., Miller, L.A., Hollingshead, N.A., Peaslee, J.L., Schuler, K.L. . Cornell University Library-eCommons
Echinococcus multilocularis in New York wildlife: distribution and genetic diversity of an emerging pathogen . Conlon, CL, Brigandi JP, Frair JL, Michaud C, Schuler KL, Lejeune M, Whipps CM. . Journal of Parasitology
Real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) is robust for chronic wasting disease detection in white-tailed deer retropharyngeal lymph nodes. . Darish J, Kaganer A, Hanley B, Schuler K, Schwabenlander M, Wolf T, Ahmed M, Rowden G, Larsen P, Kobashigawa E, Tewari D, Lichtenberg S, Pedersen J, Zhang S, Sreevatsan S. . Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation.
Predicting chronic wasting disease in white-tailed deer at the county scale using machine learning. . Ahmed M, Hanley B, Mitchell C, Abbott R, Hollingshead N, Booth J, Guinness J, Jennelle C, Hodel F, Gonzalez-Crespo C, Middaugh C, Ballard J, Clemons B, Killmaster C, Harms T, Caudell J, Westrich W, McCallen E, Casey C, O’Brien L, Trudeau J, Stewart C, Car . Scientific Reports
Wildlife scavengers of deer in New York: Assessing species vulnerability to lead toxicosis and utility as bioindicators . Eleftheriou A, Hynes K, Clark M, Schuler KL. . Journal of Wildlife Management
Diving into the “wicked” discourse of lead ammunition for big game hunting in the U.S.A. . Eleftheriou A, Schuler KL. . Wildlife Society Bulletin
Predicting the odds of chronic wasting disease with Habitat Risk software . Walter WD, Hanley BJ, Them CE, Mitchell CI, Kelly JD, Grove DM, Hollingshead NA, Abbott RC, Schuler KL . Spatio and Spatio-Temporal Epidemiology
Large-scale assessment of genetic structure to assess risk of populations of a large herbivore to disease. . Walter WD, Fameli A, Russo-Petrick K, Edson J, Rosenberry C, Schuler K, Tonkovich M. . Ecology and Evolution
Drivers of anticoagulant rodenticide exposure in fishers (Pekania pennanti) across the northeastern United States . 8. Silveira, G.*, J. Frair, L.A. Murphy, J.C. Ellis, D. Needle, S.A. Cunningham, A. Watson, A. Facka, P. Tate, S. Webb, K. Royar, C. Bernier, T. Keller, and K. Schuler . Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

2023

Social-psychological factors influencing risk perceptions of chronic wasting disease on social media. . Leong, A.D.*, T.B. Lauber, W.F. Siemer, J. Hurst, R.C. Stedman, K.L. Schuler, and K.A. McComas . Human Dimensions of Wildlife
Detection and characterization of novel luchacoviruses, genus Alphacoronavirus, in meso-carnivores in the northeastern United States. . Castillo-Olarte, X., L. Plimpton, H. McQueary, Y. Sun, Y. Yu, S. Cover, A. Richardson, J. Grenier, K. Cummings, E. Bunting, M. Diuk-Wasser, D. Needle, K. Schuler, M. Stanhope, G. Whittaker, and L. Goodman . Journal of Virology
Sample Size for Estimating Disease Prevalence in Free-Ranging Wildlife Populations: A Bayesian Modeling Approach . Booth, James & Hanley, Brenda & Hodel, Florian & Jennelle, Chris & Guinness, Joseph & Them, Cara & Mitchell, Corey & Ahmed, Md & Schuler, Krysten . Journal of Agricultural, Biological, and Environmental Statistics
Infection, tissue distribution and phylogenetic analysis of Highly Pathogenic 2Avian Influenza A type H5N1 (clade 2.3.4.4b) in Wild Red Fox kits (Vulpes vulpes). . Cronk, B.D., L.C. Caserta, M. Laverack, R.S. Gerdes, K. Hynes, C.R. Hopf, M.A. Fadden, S. Nakagun, K.L. Schuler, E.L. Buckles, M. Lejeune, and D.G. Diel. . Emerging Infectious Diseases
Novel report of the European variant of Echinococcus multilocularis in coyotes (Canis latrans) in New York State. . Conlon, C.L.*, K.L. Schuler, M. Lejeune, and C.M. Whipps . Journal of Parasitology
Towards an evidence-informed strategy for communicating lead ammunition risks . Balog-Way, D.H., K.A. McComas, A.D. Leong, D.O. Brown, and K.L. Schuler. . Wildlife Society Bulletin
Population impact to bald eagles by ingested lead in New York State, 1990–2018 . Hanley, B. J., Them, C. E., Hynes, K. P., Connelly, P. J., Bunting, E. M., & Schuler, K. L. . Wildlife Society Bulletin
Expanding on Behavioral Intentions in The Risk Information Seeking and Processing (RISP) Model: Socio-Cognitive Factors Predicting Information Seeking, Sharing, and Discussion of Lead Ammunition. . Leong, A.,* K. McComas, D. Balog-Way, and K. Schuler. . Science Communication
Immune priming prior to pathogen exposure sheds light on the relationship between host, microbiome and pathogen in disease. . Kaganer AW, Ossiboff RJ, Keith NI, Schuler KL, Comizzoli P, Hare MP, Fleischer RC, Gratwicke B, Bunting EM . Royal Society Open Science

2022

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) may serve as a reservoir for nearly extinct SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. . Caserta, L., M. Martins, S.L. Butt, N.A. Hollingshead, L.M. Covaleda, S, Ahmed, M. Everts, K.L. Schuler, D.G. Diel. . Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences
Occurrence of Mange in American Black Bears (Ursus Americanus) in New York State, USA . Zulma Rojas-Sereno, Rachel C. Abbott, Kevin Hynes, Elizabeth Bunting, Jeremy Hurst, Steve Heerkens, Brenda Hanley, Nicholas Hollingshead, Patrick Martin, Krysten Schuler . Journal of Wildlife Diseases
Informing Surveillance through the Characterization of Outbreak Potential of Chronic Wasting Disease in White-Tailed Deer . Hanley, B. J., Carstensen, M., Walsh, D. P., Christensen, S. A., Storm, D. J., Booth, J. G., Guinness, J., Them, C. E., Ahmed, M. S., & Schuler, K. . Ecological Modelling
Stamping Out Wildlife Disease: Are Hunter-Funded Stamp Programs a Viable Option for Chronic Wasting Disease Management? . 7. Ufer, D., S.A. Christensen, D.L. Ortega, N. Pinizzotto, and K. Schuler. . Conservation Science and Practice
Environmental lead reduces the resilience of bald eagle populations . Hanley, B. J., Dhondt, A., Forzan, M., Bunting, E., Pokras, M., Hynes, K., Dominguez-Villegas, E. & Schuler, K . Journal of Wildlife Management

2021

Lead reduces growth and limits the resiliency of bald eagle populations. . Hanley, B.J., A.A. Dhondt, E.M. Bunting, M.A. Pokras, K.P. Hynes, M.J. Forzan, E. Dominguez-Villegas, and K.L. Schuler . Journal of Wildlife Management
Species, causes, and outcomes of wildlife rehabilitation in New York State . Melissa Hanson, Nicholas Hollingshead, Krysten Schuler, William F. Siemer, Patrick Martin, Elizabeth M. Bunting . PLOS ONE
Diagnostic evaluation of unknown white-tailed deer morbidity and mortality in New York State: 2011–2017 . Sophie Zhu, Elizabeth Buckles, Elizabeth Bunting, Kevin Hynes, Krysten Schuler . Wildlife Biology
A predictive utility of causes of morbidity and mortality in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) . Zhu, S., E. Buckles, E. Bunting, K. Hynes, and K. Schuler . Wildlife Biology
Sentinel Coyote Pathogen Survey To Assess Declining Black-Footed Ferret (Mustela Nigripes) Population In South Dakota, USA . Krysten Schuler, Michael Claymore, Hannah Schnitzler, Edward Dubovi, Tonie Rocke, Michael J Perry, Dwight Bowman, Rachel C Abbott . Journal of Wildlife Diseases
Getting Results in the Fight Against CWD . Krysten Schuler, Rachel Abbott, Johnathan Mawdsley, Kaitlyn McGarvey . The Wildlife Professional

2020

Canine distemper virus in the Washington State sea otter population . Thomas, N., C. L. White, J. Saliki, K. Schuler, D. Lynch, O. Nielsen, J. P. Dubey, S. Knowles . Journal of Wildlife Diseases
Predictors of intentions to conserve bats among New York property owners . William F. Siemer, T. Bruce Lauber, Heidi E. Kretser, Krysten L. Schuler, Michelle Verant, Carl J. Herzog, Katherine A. McComas . Human Dimensions of Wildlife

2019

Partnering with taxidermists for improved chronic wasting disease surveillance . 14. Ableman, A., K. Hynes, K. Schuler, and A. Martin . Animals
Using time series data to assess recent population dynamics of Bald Eagles in the Northeast United States . Hanley, B., Dhondt, A., Dennis, B., & Schuler, K. . Ecosphere
A novel orthoreovirus associated with epizootic necrotizing enteritis and splenic necrosis in American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos . Maria J. Forzan, Randall W. Renshaw, Elizabeth M. Bunting, Elizabeth Buckles, Joseph Okoniewski, Kevin Hynes, Richalice Melendez, Ashley Ableman, Melissa Laverack, Melissa Fadden, Akbar Dastjerdi, Krysten Schuler, Edward J. Dubovi . Journal of Wildlife Diseases
Chronic wasting disease detection and mortality sources in a semi-protected deer population . Schuler, K. L. , J. A. Jenks, R. W. Klaver, and R. T. Bowyer. . Wildlife Biology
How can we augment the few that remain? Using stable population dynamics to aid reintroduction planning. . Brenda Hanley, Elizabeth Bunting, Krysten Schuler . PeerJ
Infection of eight mesocarnivores in New Hampshire and Vermont with a distinct clade of canine distemper virus in 2016–2017 . David B. Needle, Vivien C. Burnell, Maria J. Forzan, Edward J. Dubovi, Krysten L. Schuler, Chris Bernier, Nicholas A. Hollingshead, Julie C. Ellis, Brian A. Stevens, Patrick Tate, Eman Anis, Rebecca P. Wilkes . Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation
Presence of leptospirosis in urban/suburban American black bears in western North Carolina. . Sasmal, I., N. P. Gould,, Krysten Schuler, Y. F. Chang, A. Thachil, J. Strules, , C. Olfenbuttle, S. Datta, and C. S. DePerno . The Journal of Wildlife Diseases

2018

Hunters’ responses to urine‐based scent bans tackling chronic wasting disease . Hwanseok Song, Katherine A. McComas, Krysten L. Schuler . Journal of Wildlife Management
Source effects on psychological reactance to regulatory policies: the role of trust and similarity . Hwanseok Song, Katherine A. McComas, Krysten L. Schuler . Science Communication
Redefining aging criteria for northern sea otters in Washington State . Schuler, K. L., B. C. Brewer, K. A. Mayer, C. Perez-Heydrich, P. M. Holahan, N. J. Thomas, and C. L. White . The Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management

2016

Exploring Perceptions about Chronic Wasting Disease Risks among Wildlife and Agriculture Professionals and Stakeholders . Schuler, K. L., A. M. Wetterau, E. M. Bunting, and H. O. Mohammed . Wildlife Society Bulletin

For More Info

Faculty Page
Google Scholar Publications List

Contact Information

ks833@cornell.edu

Projects

Active Projects

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagles Population Impact Study 2018-2021

Uncovering the history of lead toxicity and the population level impact on bald eagles...

white-tialed buck

Surveillance Optimization Project for Chronic Wasting Disease (SOP4CWD)

Our Surveillance Optimization Project for Chronic Wasting Disease (SOP4CWD) collaboration has developed the CWD Data Warehouse, an online platform for CWD surveillance planning and data management available at no cost to wildlife agencies across North America.

moose in field

Moose Population Health

Assessing moose population health in New York State with sampling and diagnostic testing to understand reproductive status, infectious disease exposure, parasite load, and causes of death.

fisher kit in a tree

Fisher Reproductive Health

Investigating impacts on fisher health in New York State.

White-tailed deer

Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease

Conducting surveillance for EHD virus in New York and surrounding states, with the goal of characterizing the prevalence of the virus, the degree of developing immunity among white-tailed deer, and the spatiotemporal dynamics of serotype distribution.

Female mallard duck with clutch of chicks

Waterfowl Contaminant Study

Measuring chemical contaminant loads in waterfowl to assess the health of waterfowl and the potential impact on hunters who consume them.

Furbearer coat closeup

Using Mathematical Models To Study Furbearer Populations

Using harvest data in mathematical models to help managers balance trapping activity with species sustainability.

White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus), buck

SARS-CoV-2 & White-tailed Deer

Investigating the extent of infection in deer in New York and examining the relationship between environmental variables to ascertain how deer may be exposed and spread the virus to other deer.

young buck with mouth open against green tree background

RT-QuIC Project

To improve testing capabilities for CWD, we are building capacity for a new test for prions, Real-Time Quaking Induced Conversion (RT-QuIC)...

Wood frog eyes, nose, face, and head macro portrait

Ranavirus Environmental RNA (eRNA)

Exploring the potential of environmental RNA (eRNA) for ranavirus surveillance...

Lead Ammunition Camera Survey

Identifying wildlife scavengers of white-tailed deer in New York to catalog scavenger species and assess their risk of lead exposure through ammunition fragments in deer remains. 

bobcat in field of brown grass

Fisher and Bobcat Population Health

Assessing how lead toxicity and anticoagulant rodenticides impact female reproductive potential and population health of fishers and bobcats in New York.

coyote in snow

Echinococcus in New York State

Collaborative surveillance for Echinococcus multilocularis in wild canids in New York State.

White-tailed deer

Chronic Wasting Disease Risk Assessment and Prevention Planning

Reducing the risk of a serious threat to wild white tailed deer....

Fisher

Fishers and Rodenticide

Digging into the frequency and impact of rodenticides on fishers...

Completed Projects

Eastern Hellbender

Eastern Hellbender Conservation

Improving survival odds of North America's only giant salamander species - the Eastern Hellbender

American Black Bear

Emergence of Black Bear Mange in New York

Understanding the transmission of a newly emerging disease of black bears...

Moose in marsh area

Moose Population Health 2017

Battling moose population decline in New York using data

deer fawns

White-tailed Deer Fawn Survival

Working with partners to assess health and survival in newborn fawns...

moose bull

Moose Health 2018

We are wrapping up an intensive look at moose health in New York...

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