Dr. Shannon Hedtke is a Research Fellow in the Nematode Functional Genomics Laboratory at La Trobe University. She specialises in using phylogenetics and landscape genomics to study the ecology and evolution of disease-causing organisms. She received her PhD in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior from the University of Texas at Austin, and subsequently worked at Cornell University researching pathogens in bees. Current projects include investigating the evolution of poor response to macrocyclic lactones in nematodes that can cause blindness in humans (Onchocerca volvulus) and heartworm in dogs (Dirofilaria immitis), examining causes for re-emergence of disease in areas where it was presumed eliminated (O. volvulus and Wuchereria bancrofti), and developing genetic tools for efficient delimitation of transmission zones by disease-control agencies.