Scientists
Dr. Noam Ross
Principal Scientist, Computational Research
"Theory and data are the two sides of the scientist's coin. Computational tools let us bring them together to understand what causes disease emergence, predict where it may occur, and design the best interventions. At EcoHealth, our work spans from basic research to on-the-ground engagement to bring the best science to protecting the most lives and best conserving wildlife."
Scientists Bio
Dr. Noam Ross is Principal Scientist for Computational Research at EcoHealth Alliance. He studies how the combined processes of changing wildlife populations, evolution of pathogens, and human activity lead to the emergence of disease. A computational and theoretical ecologist, he uses mathematical models and data to understand where and when interventions can be most effective in preventing and mitigating disease outbreaks. Noam supports projects across EHA in experimental design, biostatistics and machine learning.
Noam’s work has focused on understanding disease in complex, structured populations and developing tools to improve epidemiological forecasts. Some of his current projects include using antibodies to understand how multiple viruses circulate simultaneously in wildlife populations and developing forecasts of veterinary disease outbreaks that spread through travel and trade.
Noam also focuses on building open-source technologies to advance research. As a leader of the rOpenSci organization, he creates scientific software tools and develops standards to assure researchers of the quality of their tools. Noam is a technology instructor for The Carpentries organization that teaches coding and data science skills to researchers worldwide. He has also worked at the intersection of environmental conservation and business. Noam served as a consultant to organizations such as Wal-Mart, General Electric, General Motors, Stonyfield, and DuPont on corporate sustainability strategy, environmental markets and ecosystem services and energy efficiency.
Noam received his B.Sc. in Environmental Science from Brown University and his Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of California-Davis. His dissertation work created a mathematical framework to model emerging fungal pathogens such as chytrid fungus in amphibians, white nose syndrome in bats, and sudden oak death. He also designed new computational methods for determining economically optimal treatments of these diseases. He serves as a reviewer for Nature, Theoretical Ecology, Methods in Ecology and Evolution, and the Journal of Open Source Software.
Follow Noam’s work at his personal research website or on Mastodon, linked below.
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