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Academics - Biology Faculty & Staff

Academics - Biology Faculty & Staff

Eric J. Wetzel

Professor of Biology and Global Health Initiative Director

CONTACT:

Hays Science Hall 119 & 114
765-361-6074
wetzele@wabash.edu
Curriculum vitae

Picture of Wetzel, Eric J.

Eric Wetzel is the Norman E. Treves Professor of Biology at Wabash, and the Director of the Wabash Global Health Initiative. Dr. Wetzel was an undergraduate at Millersville University in Pennsylvania, where he grew up. He then went to North Carolina where he did his M.S. and Ph.D work at Wake Forest University. After teaching at WFU for 1.5 years, he joined the Wabash faculty in 1996. His teaching and research are centered on the field of invertebrate zoology (animals without backbones) with particular interests in ‘wormy’ kinds of parasites (helminths). More specifically, his research examines the ecology of parasites of wild host animals such as fish, frogs, mollusks and crayfish. It’s no surprise, then, that Dr. Wetzel’s work involves both field and laboratory work. He has led course-related immersion trips to the Gulf Coast, to the coral reefs of Jamaica and Belize, and to the Amazonian rainforest of Peru. Dr. Wetzel is the Director of the Wabash Global Health Initiative, which work through education, investigation, and service to impact students and people in underserved communities. International work of the WGHI currently focuses on collaborations in the South American country of Peru, with work in rainforest, Andean and coastal regions.

Dr. Wetzel enjoys interacting with students both inside and outside the classroom / lab. Married with five children he and his family often invite students in upper-level classes to dinner at their home in Lafayette, IN. He enjoys spending time with his family, playing a variety of sports, reading, hiking and fishing, and involvement in the life of their church including adult education classes.

EDUCATION

Ph.D Biology, Wake Forest University, December 1995
M.S. Biology, Wake Forest University, May 1992
B.S. Biology, Millersville University, 1989

RECENT COURSE OFFERINGS

BIO 111 & 112 – General Biology I & II
BIO 177 – Global Health
BIO 213 – Ecology
BIO 222 – Biology of the Invertebrates
BIO 226 – Parasitology
BIO 387 / 388 – Independent Study
BIO 401 – Senior Seminar
Freshman Tutorial
 

RECENT PRESENTATIONS

Wetzel, E.J. 2013. Infections and Interactions: The Global Health Initiative at Wabash. 34th Ides of August, Wabash College. August 23, 2013

Wetzel, E.J. 2013 (August). The Global Health Initiative in Peru: Opportunities for research in Neotropical Parasitology. Given to Veterinary and Nursing Faculty of Univ. Nacional Hermilio Valdizan (UNHEVAL), Huanuco,Peru; also Biology faculty/students of Universidad Nacional Agraria de la Selva (UNAS), Tingo Maria, Peru.

Wetzel, E.J. 2013 (Aug.). Trematode parasites: Diversity of life cycles, ecology and impact in public health. Workshops given at UNHEVAL and UNAS, Peru.

Wetzel, E.J. 2013. Disturbance and the Wabash Ecosystem.  Chapel Talk, Wabash College, Jan. 24, 2013.

Patiño-Calla, K., P. Puescas-Sánchez,  M. Cárdenas- Carranza, O. Cáceres-Torres, I. Cornejo-Bermudez, J. Cárdenas-Callirgos, C. Luna-Muñoz, V. Durand-Tuanama & E. Wetzel. 2012.Clinic-epidemiological characteristics and factors associated with Peduculosis capitis  in a public school, Lima 2012. The Biologist (Lima), vol. 10:141, jul-dic, Suplemento Especial 2. Abstract for III Int. Congr. of Neotrop. Parasitology, Lima Peru.

 Estela-Ayamamani, D., R. Pereyra-Elías, J. Cárdenas –Callirgos, & E. Wetzel. 2012. Parasitosis intestinal en  una comunidad urbano marginal de Lima. 2012. The Biologist (Lima), vol. 10:57, jul-dic, Suplemento Especial 2. Abstract for III Int. Congr. of Neotrop. Parasitology, Lima Peru.

Mayta – Calderon, M., J. Chambi - Torres, R. Uscata - Barrenechea, J. Huaccho – Rojas, J. Cárdenas – Callirgos, & E. Wetzel. 2012. Parasitosis gastrointestinal en la comunidad rural de Llupa, Ancash-Peru,  2012. The Biologist (Lima), vol. 10:57, jul-dic, Suplemento Especial 2. Abstract for III Int. Congr. of Neotrop. Parasitology, Lima Peru.

         

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

(* indicates Wabash student)

Zelada-Castro, H, J. Rodríguez-Borda, H. Flores-Liñan, J. León-Manco, E.J. Wetzel & J. CárdenasCallirgos. 2013. Notes on intestinal parasitic diseases in artisanal fishermen of the fishing terminal of Chorrillos (Lima, Peru). Neotropical Helminthology, 7(1) Jan-Jun: 155-166.

Literak, I., P. Heneberg, J. Sitko, E. Wetzel, J. Cardenas Callirgos, M. Capek, D. Valle Basto, I. Papousek. An outbreak of eye trematode infection in small passerines in Peru caused by Philophthalmus lucipetus, an agent with a zoonotic potential spread by an invasive freshwater snail. Parasitology International 62(4): 390-396

Wetzel, E.J. 2009. Editorial - Opportunities for research in helminthology in Peru: My own experience. Neotropical Helminthology 3:5-6.

Wetzel, E.J. & E.W. Shreve*. 2003. The influence of habitat on the distribution and abundance of metacercariae of Macravestibulum obtusicaudum (Pronocephalidae) in a small Indiana stream. The Journal of Parasitology 89(5): 1088-1090.

Ferrell, D.L.* , N.J. Negovetich*, & E.J. Wetzel. 2001. Effect of temperature on the infectivity of metacercariae of Zygocotyle lunata (Digenea: Paramphistomidae). The Journal of Parasitology 87(1): 10-13.

Wetzel, E.J., R. Waldon*, C. Pohl*, & O. Mainuddin*. Life history trade-offs made by sphaeriid clams infected with the allocreadiid trematode Crepidostomum cornutum. Manuscript to be submitted to The Journal of Parasitology.

HONORS AND AWARDS

GLCA New Directions Initiative Grant, "Global Health as a New Direction: Next Steps", 2011

GLCA New Directions Initiative Grant, “Global Health as a New Direction: First Steps”, 2010

Faculty Development Grant in support of sabbatical work in Peru, Wabash College, Oct. 2009

Sabbatical extension for work on Global Health, Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts, Wabash College, Fall 2008.

McLain-McTurnan-Arnold Research Scholar Award, Wabash College, Spring 2003

PERSONAL BLOGS & PODCAST

Blog: Global Health Initiative

Wetzel discusses his interests in biology, the intracies and impacts of immersion trips and the Global Health Initiative.

MAJORS & MINORS
AT WABASH