Kezia Manlove
Wildland Resources | Ecology Center
Associate Professor

Biography
I am a wildlife and quantitative disease ecologist. My research uses conventional wildlife datasets to address emerging questions in infectious diseases relevant to the intermountain west.
Teaching Interests
Design and analysis of ecological experiments using R (WILD 6500)
Disease ecology (WILD 6900)
Graduate Ecology (WILD 6960)
Research Interests
Disease ecology, network ecology, applied data analysis, spatial/social interface
Awards
Faculty Researcher of the Year, 2025
Quinney College of Natural Resources
Quinney College of Natural Resources Undergraduate Faculty Mentor of the Year, 2024
Quinney College of Natural Resources
Quinney College of Natural Resources Graduate Mentor of the Year, 2022
Quinney College of Natural Resources
Scialog Fellow, 2020
USDA
Publications | Journal Articles
Academic Journal
- Stoner, D., Manlove, K., (2025). Desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) home range and disease transmission risk responses to environmental variation in a desert landscape. Journal of Wildlife Management
- Giglio, R., Westmoreland, A., Wilber, M., Wilson-Henjum, G., Chan, A., Gardner, B., Horpiencharoen, W., Gagne, E., Corondi, A., Baker, A., Combs, M., Chandler, J., Manlove, K., Pepin, K.M, Walter, W.D, (2025). Viral outbreak dynamics and evolution in wildlife at the interface with humans. Biology Letters, 21:12, 20250540. doi: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2025.0540
- Hewitt, J., Wilson-Henjum, G., Chandler, J.C, Manlove, K., (2025). Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 antibody detection methods for wild Cervidae. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 241, 106522. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106522
- Smith, L.E, Hewitt, J., Westmoreland, A., Wilson-Henjum, G., Manlove, K., Pepin, K.M, (2025). Surveillance Analysis and Sample Size Explorer (SASSE): Learning how to plan disease surveillance in wildlife. Ecology and Evolution, 15, e71991. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71991
- Gaynor, K., Hayes, F.P, Manlove, K., Galloway, N., (2025). The influence of human presence and footprint on animal space use in US national parks. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 292:20251013, doi: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2025.1013
- Pepin, K.M, Manlove, K., (2025). Expanding National-Scale Wildlife Disease Surveillance Systems With Research Networks. Ecology and Evolution, 15, e71492 . doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71492
- Wilson-Henjum, G., Ricci, L.E, Stoner, D.C, Longshore, K., Manlove, K., (2025). Desert bighorn sheep home range and disease transmission risk responses to temporally dynamic environmental variation. Journal of Wildlife Management, 89:3, e22715. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.22715
- Chelak, M., Kohl, M., Small, J.R, Smith, K., Pratt, A., Beck, J., Backen, C., Flack, M.B, Wayment, H.P, Wood, J.A, Howell, R., Strange, T., MacDonalt, L., Manlove, K., Frey, S.N, Larsen, R.T, Maxfield, B., Dahlgren, D., Messmer, T., Stoner, D.C, (2025). Refurbishing used GPS transmitters improves performance for subsequent deployments on greater sage-grouse. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 49:1, e1566. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.1566
- Andrews, K., Besser, T.E, Stalder, T., Top, E., Baker, K., Fagnan, M., New, D., Schneider, A., Gal, A., Andrews-Dickert, R., Hunter, S., Beckmen, K., Christensen, L., Justice-Allen, A., Konetchy, D., Lehman, C., Manlove, K., Miyasaki, H., Nordeen, T., Roug, A., Cassirer, E.F, (2024). Comparative genomic analysis identifies potential adaptive variation and virulence factors in Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae. Microbial Genomics, 10:8, doi: https://doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.001279
- Iacono, P., Schoemaker, K., Manlove, K., Jackson, P., Stoner, D., (2024). Evaluating Potential Mountain Lion Prey-Switching After Feral Horse Removal in a Semi-Arid Environment. Ecosphere, doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4919
- Winter, V., Smith, B.J, Berger, D., Hart, R., Huang, J., Manlove, K., Buderman, F.E, Avgar, T., (2024). Forecasting animal distribution through individual habitat selection: insights for population inference and transferable predictions. Ecography, 2024:11, e07225. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.07225
- Wright, E., Brugette, G., Wilcox, D.C, Buckert, K., Hernandez, F., Reed, H., Taylor, J., Manlove, K., Phillips, C., Bradley, R.D, (2024). Multi-locus sequence typing detects multiple strains of Mycoplasma in Texas desert bighorn sheep and exotic aoudad. Journal of Wildlife Management, 88, e22594. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.22594
- Gaynor, K., Abrahms, B., Manlove, K., Oestreich, W., Smith, J.A, (2024). Anthropogenic impacts at the interface of animal spatial and social behaviour. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 379:1912, doi: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2022.0527
- Ricci, L.E, Cox, M., Manlove, K., (2024). Movement decisions driving metapopulation connectivity respond to social resources in a long-lived ungulate, bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 379:1912, doi: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2022.0533
- Padney, A., Wojan, C., Feuka, A., Craft, M., Manlove, K., Pepin, K., (2024). The influence of social and spatial processes on the epidemiology of environmentally transmitted pathogens in wildlife: implications for management. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 379:1912, doi: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2022.0532
- Webber, Q.M, Albery, G.F, Farine, D.R, Pinter‐Wollman, N., Sharma, N., Spiegel, O., Vander Wal, E., Manlove, K., (2023). Behavioural ecology at the spatial–social interface. Biological Reviews, 98:3, 868-886. doi: 10.1111/brv.12934
- Yang, A., Wilber, M., Manlove, K., Miller, R.S, Boughton, R., Beasley, J., Northrup, J., VerCauteren, K., Wittemyer, G., (2023). Deriving spatially explicit direct and indirect interaction networks from animal movement data. Ecology and Evolution, 13:e9774, doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9774
- Fisk, E., Cassirer, E.F, Taylor, K., Huggler, K., Pessier, A., White, L.A, Ramsay, J., Goldsmith, E., Drakhan, H., Wolking, R., Manlove, K., Nordeen, T., Hogg, J.T, Besser, T.E, (2023). Abortion and neonatal mortality due to Toxoplasma gondii in bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis). Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 59:1, 37-48.
- Manlove, K., Wilber, M.Q, White, L., Bastille-Rousseau, G., Yang, A., M., Craft, M.E, Cross, P.C, Wittemyer, G., Pepin, K.M, (2022). Defining an epidemiological landscape by connecting host movement to pathogen transmission. Ecology Letters
- Manlove, K., Wilber, M., White, L., Bastille‐Rousseau, G., Yang, A., Gilbertson, M.L, Craft, M.E, Cross, P.C, Wittemyer, G., Pepin, K.M, (2022). Defining an epidemiological landscape that connects movement ecology to pathogen transmission and pace‐of‐life. Ecology Letters, 25:8, 1760-1782. doi: 10.1111/ele.14032
- Bowen, L., Manlove, K., Roug, A., Waters, S., LaHue, N., (2022). Visualizing disease dynamics in bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) using transcriptomics. Conservation Physiology, 10:1, doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coac046
- Manlove, K., Hersey, K.R, Mower, K., Ricci, L.E, Rominger, E., Ruhl, C., Kylie, S., Tatman, N., Taylor, J., (2022). Bighorn sheep show similar in-host responses to the same pathogen strain in two contrasting environments. Ecology and Evolution, 12:7, doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9109
- Johnson, B.M, Stroud-Settles, J., Roug, A., Manlove, K., (2022). Disease ecology of a low-virulence Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae strain in a free-ranging desert bighorn sheep population.. Animals, 12:8, 1029.
- Wilber, M., Yang, A., Boughton, R., Manlove, K., Miller, R.S, Pepin, K.M, Wittemyer, G., (2022). A model for leveraging animal movement to understand spatio-temporal disease dynamics. Ecology Letters
- Martin, A., Manlove, K., , Hogg, J.T, Monteith, K., LaSharr, T.N, Cross, P.C, (2022). Disease sweeps the trophy: the impact of pneumonia on bighorn sheep horn growth. Journal of Wildlife Management, doi: DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.22154
- Bowen, L., Manlove, K., Roug, A., Waters, S., LaHue, N., Wolff, P., Cooke, S., (2022). Using transcriptomics to predict and visualize disease status in bighorn sheep (<i>Ovis canadensis</i>). Conservation Physiology, 10:1, doi: 10.1093/conphys/coac046
- Almberg, E.S, Manlove, K., Cassirer, E.F, Gude, J., Carson, K., Ramsey, J., Plowright, R.K, (2021). Modelling management strategies for chronic disease in wildlife: Predictions for the control of respiratory disease in bighorn sheep. Journal of Applied Ecology, 59:3, doi: DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.14084
- Besser, T.E, Cassirer, E.F, Lisk, A., Nelson, D., Manlove, K., Cross, P.C, Hogg, J.T, (2021). atural history of a bighorn sheep pneumonia epizootic: source of infection, course of disease, and pathogen clearance. Ecology and Evolution, 11, 14366–14382. doi: DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8166
- Besser, T.E, Cassirer, E.F, Lisk, A., Nelson, , Manlove, K., Cross, P.C, Hogg, J.T, (2021). Natural history of a bighorn sheep pneumonia outbreak: source of infection, course of disease, and pathogen clearance.. Ecology and Evolution11, 14366–14382. doi: DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.14084
- Schumm, Z.R, Alston, D.G, Spears, L., Manlove, K., (2020). Impact of brown marmorated stink bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) feeding on tart cherry (Rosales: Rosaceae) quality and yield in Utah. Journal of Economic Entomology, 113:5, 2328-2334. doi: doi.org/10.1093/jee/toaa143
- Kamath, P.L, Manlove, K., Cassirer, E.F, Cross, P.C, Besser, T.E, (2019). Genetic structure of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae informs pathogen spillover dynamics between domestic and wild Caprinae in the western United States. Scientific Reports, 9:1, 1-14. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-51444-x
- Sokolow, S.H, Nova, N., Pepin, K.M, Peel, A.J, Pulliam, J.R, Manlove, K., Cross, P.C, Becker, D.J, Plowright, R.K, McCallum, H., De Leo, G.A, (2019). Ecological interventions to prevent and manage zoonotic pathogen spillover. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 374:1782, 20180342. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0342
- Borremans, B., Faust, C., Manlove, K., Sokolow, S.H, Lloyd-Smith, J.O, (2019). Cross-species pathogen spillover across ecosystem boundaries: mechanisms and theory. , 374:1782, 20180344. doi: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2018.0344
- Manlove, K.R, Sampson, L.M, Borremans, B., Cassirer, E.F, Miller, R.S, Pepin, K.M, Besser, T.E, Cross, P.C, (2019). Epidemic Growth Rates and Host Movement Patterns Shape Management Performance for Pathogen Spillover at The Wildlife-livestock Interface. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 374:1782, 20180343. doi: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2018.0343
- Plowright, R.K, Becker, D.J, McCallum, H., Manlove, K.R, (2019). Sampling to elucidate the dynamics of infections in reservoir hosts. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 374:1782, doi: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2018.0336
- Washburne, A.D, Crowley, D.E, Becker, D.J, Manlove, K.R, Childs, M.L, Plowright, R.K, (2019). Percolation models of pathogen spillover. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 374:1782, 20180331. doi: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2018.0331
- Manlove, K.R, Branan, M., Baker, K., Bradway, D., Cassirer, E.F, Marshall, K., Miller, R.S, Sweeney, S., Cross, P.C, Besser, T.E, (2019). Risk factors and productivity losses associated with Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae infection in United States domestic sheep operations. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 168, 30-38. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2019.04.006
- Besser, T.E, Levy, J., Nelson, D., Manlove, K., Potter, K.A, Busboom, J., Benson, M., (2019). A pilot study of the effects of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae exposure on domestic lamb growth and performance. PloS one, 14:2, e0207420. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0207420
- Manlove, K., Belou, R.M, (2018). Authors and editors assort on gender and geography in high-rank ecological publications. PloS one, 13:2, e0192481.
- Plowright, R.K, Manlove, K., Besser, T.E, P\'aez, David J, , Andrews, K.R, Matthews, P.E, Waits, L.P, Hudson, P.J, Cassirer, E.F, (2017). Age-specific infectious period shapes dynamics of pneumonia in bighorn sheep. Ecology letters, 20:10, 1325--1336.
- Manlove, K., Cassirer, E.F, Plowright, R.K, Cross, P.C, Hudson, P.J, (2017). Contact and contagion: Probability of transmission given contact varies with demographic state in bighorn sheep. Journal of Animal Ecology, 86:4, 908--920.
- Manlove, K., Cassirer, E.F, Cross, P.C, Plowright, R.K, Hudson, P.J, (2014). Costs and benefits of group living with disease: a case study of pneumonia in bighorn lambs (Ovis canadensis). Proc. R. Soc. B, 281:1797, 20142331.
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Publications | Other
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Teaching
Graduate Students Mentored
Students
Elsbeth Otto - MS
Richard Evans - MS
USU Disease Ecology Laboratory
Courses
WILD 6500: Design and analysis of ecological experiments using R -- every fall
WILD 6520: Introduction to generalized linear and hierarchical modeling for life scientists
WILD 6600: Graduate ecology -- every fall