Paula Blanco Ortiz

Paula Blanco is a University Graduate Fellow, Dean's Distinguished Graduate Fellow, and BIOMS NIH/NIGMS-NRSA T32 Trainee in the Bletz and Miller applied population ecology labs. She received her bachelor's degree from Cornell University, where she worked on creating non-invasive detection methods for the Ambystoma species complex, a group of special concern New York salamanders.  At Penn State, she focuses on temperature-dependent host-pathogen dynamics in amphibians.

Research Summary:

Understanding how temperature influences microbiome assembly and function is crucial for mitigating chytridiomycosis, a devastating amphibian disease associated with community-wide declines. Long-term host-pathogen data demonstrate an initial wave of infection as cool temperatures rise in the spring, and infection decreases as temperatures warm and stabilize in the summer. However, the temperature-mediated mechanisms influencing in-host pathogen growth are not understood. Given that the amphibian skin microbiome is the primary defense against invading pathogens, Paula's project will investigate how variable temperatures affect the functional potential of these protective skin microbial communities.