Helen Esser

Helen is an assistant professor in the Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Group at Wageningen University & Research. As a disease ecologist, her research centers on understanding the ecological interactions among wildlife, pathogens, and arthropod vectors (such as ticks, mosquitoes) to understand how zoonotic diseases emerge in a rapidly changing world.

She is particularly interested in uncovering the mechanisms through which biodiversity loss and nature restoration affect pathogen transmission dynamics, with the aim to inform strategies that balance both ecosystem and human health.

Within the ABC Futures project, she is part of the supervisory team of Astracia Warner, who will be studying the interactions between environmental pressures, wildlife, and health in Suriname.