Drew Kramer

Associate Professor, Department of Integrative Biology

University of South Florida

Research interests

I am interested in the ecology of species invasions and zoonotic diseases, and in the underlying population ecology of small populations. My research addresses several questions including:

How can integrating processes at multiple scales improve predictions of species invasion and disease emergence, particularly the pattern of spatial spread?
What are the mechanisms driving dynamics of small populations, and how do they influence the opposing outcomes of extinction and invasion?

I link theory with empirical data to produce general insights and work across scales from the microscopic to continental. My research aims to make effective use of increasingly powerful computational tools, and I use machine learning tools and network approaches to develop predictive models for the spread of invasive species and emerging infectious diseases. I also develop dynamical models and conduct laboratory, mesocosm and whole-lake experiments with crustacean zooplankton to better understand the dynamics of extinction, invasion, and species coexistence.

Interests

Disease ecology
Invasive species
Population dynamics
Aquatic ecology

Positions Held

Associate Professor, 2025-current

University of South Florida
Assistant Professor, 2018-2025

University of South Florida
Assistant Research Scientist, 2012-2017

University of Georgia
Postdoctoral Associate, 2007-2012

University of Georgia

Education

PhD in Fisheries and Wildlife & Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior, 2007

Michigan State University
B.S. in Biology, 2000

Saint Louis University

People

Hayes Hoover

PhD Student

Suman Neupane

PhD Student

Mayank Gangwar

Postdoc Researcher

Lauren Ash

Postdoc Researcher

Rajendra Panda

Postdoc Researcher

Shivam Shukla

Lab technician

Eva Muir

PhD Student

Grace Henderson

Masters Student

Shea Volkel

PhD Student

Austin Smith

PhD Student

Alexander Mercier

Undergraduate Student

Lindsey Mixer

Masters Student

Travis Flock

Masters Alumni

Fargam Neinavaie

PhD Student

Allee effects

Ecological and evolutionary dynamics of small populations

Invasive species ecology

Invasion and spread of species using species distribution models, deep learning, and spatial simulations

Macroscale spread of disease

Examining spatial dynamics of epidemics on networks

Zooplankton Coexistence

Dynamics and structure of freshwater zooplankton communities

Projects

Ecography, 2025.

PDF

Predicting species distributions with environmental time series data and deep learning

AM Smith, C Capinha, AM Kramer

bioRxiv, 2022, 2022.

PDF Project

A latitudinal signal in the relationship between species geographic range size and climatic niche area

TA Dallas, AM Kramer

Ecography, 2022: e06349, 2022.

PDF Project Project

Biological invasion costs reveal insufficient proactive management worldwide

RN Cuthbert, C Diagne, EJ Hudgins, A Turbelin, DA Ahmed, C Albert, TW Bodey, E Briski, F Essl, PJ Haubrock, RE Gozlan, N Kirichenko, M Kourantidou, AM Kramer, F Courchamp

Science of the Total Environment, 153404, 2022.

PDF Project

Economic costs of biological invasions in the United States

JE Fantle-Lepczyk, PJ Haubrock, AM Kramer, RN Cuthbert, R Crystal-Ornelas, C Diagne, F Courchamp

Science of the Total Environment, 151318, 2022.

PDF Project

Recent Publications

More Publications

AM Kramer, CL Faust, AA Castellanos, IR Fischoff, AJ Peel, P Eby, M Ruiz-Aravena, B Borremans, RK Plowright, BA Han (2025). Integrating host condition into spatiotemporal multiscale models improves virus shedding predictions. Ecography.

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E Muir, B Gemmell, AM Kramer (2025). Captive rearing reduces the sensitivity of *Acartia tonsa* copepods to predator cues. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology.

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E Muir, M Lajeunesse, AM Kramer (2024). The magnitude of Allee effects varies across Allee mechanisms, but not taxonomic groups. Oikos, e10386.

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