Education

PhD (Zoology). Department of Zoology, University of Otago, New Zealand, 2005.
Thesis: “Impact of the trematode parasite, Maritrema novaezealandensis
(Microphallidae) on the ecology and evolution of intermediate hosts in the New Zealand soft bottom intertidal zone”.

MSc (Biology). Institute of Biology, Dept of Marine Ecology, University of Aarhus, Denmark, 2001. Thesis: “Dynamics of microphallid trematodes in the intermediate hosts Hydrobia ulvae and Corophium volutator during bird final host autumn migration”.

Expertise

Invertebrate zoology
Animal parasitology
Marine Ecology

Present Position

Assistant Professor at the Department of Biology, The University of Texas Pan American, Edinburg, Texas.

Past Positions

May 2005 – June 2007
Postdoctoral. Marine Science Institute & Dept of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology
University of California, Santa Barbara, USA. National Science Foundation (NSF) Ecology of Infectious Diseases (EID) Grant: “Anthropogenic effects on host-trematode dynamics”.

January – March 2007
Lecturer. Dept of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA. Parasitology (E111)

July – August 2006
Research Mentor. Highschool Research Program, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA.

April 2005
Supervisor, 3rd year Behavioural Ecology projects, Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.

September 2004 – October 2004
Teaching Assistant, 2nd year Animal Evolution, Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Courses Taught

Invertebrate Zoology (BIOL 3414)
General Biology (BIOL 1402)
Animal Parasitology (BIOL 4407)
Host-Parasite interactions (BIOL 5307)
Marine Zoology (BIOL 4402)
Advanced Marine Zoology (BIOL 5452)
Biology Seminar (BIOL 4100)
Biology Problems (BIOL 4201/4202)

Publications

Thieltges DW, Fredensborg BL, Studer A, Poulin R (submitted) Large-scale patterns in trematode richness and infection levels in marine crustacean hosts.

Thieltges DW, Fredensborg BL, Poulin R (2009) Geographical variation in metacercarial infection levels in marine invertebrate hosts: parasite species factor versus local factors. Marine Biology 156:983-990.

Thieltges DW, de Montaudouin X, Fredensborg BL, Jensen KT, Koprivnikar J, Poulin R (2008) Production of marine trematode cercariae - an overlooked path of energy flow in benthic systems? Marine Ecology Progress Series 372:147-155.

Kuris AM, Hechinger RF, Shaw JC, Whitney K, Aguirre LM, Boch C, Dobson AP, Dunham EJ, Fredensborg BL, Huspeni TC, Lorda J, Mababa L, Mancini F, Mora A, Pickering M, Talhouk N, Torchin ME, Lafferty KD (2008) Ecosystem energetic implications of free-living and parasite biomass in three estuaries. Nature 454:515-518.

Martorelli SR, Fredensborg BL, Leung TLF, Poulin R (2008) Four trematode cercariae from the New Zealand intertidal snail Zeacumantus subcarinatus (Batillariidae). New Zealand Journal of Zoology 35:73-84.

Fredensborg BL, Poulin R (2006) Parasitism shaping host life history evolution: Adaptive responses in a marine gastropod to infection by trematodes. Journal of Animal Ecology, 75, 44-53.

Fredensborg BL, Mouritsen KN, Poulin R (2006) Relating bird host distribution and spatial heterogeneity in trematode infections in an intertidal snail – from small to large scale. Marine Biology 149:275-283.

Poulin R, Fredensborg BL, Hansen E, Leung T (2005) The true cost of host manipulation by parasites. Behavioural Processes 68:241-244.

Lefebvre F, Fredensborg B, Armstrong A, Hansen E, Poulin R (2005) Assortative pairing in the amphipod Paracalliope fluviatilis: a role for parasites? Hydrobiologia 545:65-73.

Hay KB, Fredensborg BL, Poulin R (2005) Trematode-induced alterations in shell shape of the mud snail Zeacumantus subcarinatus (Prosobranchis: Batillariidae). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 85:989-992.

Fredensborg BL, Poulin R (2005) Larval helminths in intermediate hosts: Does competition early in life determine the fitness of adult parasites? International Journal for Parasitology 35:1061-1070.

Fredensborg BL, Poulin R (2005) In vitro cultivation of Maritrema novaezelandensis (Microphallidae): The effect of culture medium on excystation, survival and egg-production. Parasitology Research 95:310-313.

Fredensborg BL, Mouritsen K N, Poulin R (2005) Impact of trematodes on host survival and population density in the intertidal gastropod Zeacumantus subcarinatus. Marine Ecology Progress Series 290:109-117.

Martorelli SR, Fredensborg BL, Mouritsen KN, Poulin R (2004) Description and proposed life cycle of Maritrema novaezealandensis n. sp. parasite of the red-billed gull, Larus novaehollandiae scopulinus from Otago Harbor, South Island, New Zealand. Journal of Parasitology 90:272-277.

Fredensborg BL, Mouritsen KN, Poulin R (2004) Intensity-dependent mortality of Paracalliope novizealandiae (Amphipoda: Crustacea) infected by a trematode: Experimental infections and field observations. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 311:253-265.

Fredensborg BL, Latham ADM, Poulin R (2004) New records of gastrointestinal helminths from the red-billed gull (Larus novaehollandiae scopulinus). New Zealand Journal of Zoology 31:75-80.

Latham ADM, Fredensborg BL, McFarland LH, Poulin R (2003) A gastropod scavenger serving as paratenic host for larval helminth communities in shore crabs. Journal of Parasitology 89:862-864.

Moravec F, Fredensborg BL, Latham ADM, Poulin R (2003) Larval Spirurida (Nematoda) from the crab Macrophthalmus hirtipes in New Zealand. Folia Parasitologica 50109-114.

 Grants and Awards

Faculty Research Grant, University of Texas-Pan American. January 2008-August 2008.

University of Otago, Bridging Grant Award. February 2005 – April 2005.

Best oral presentation, University of Otago, Department of Zoology, Postgraduate Student Colloqioum. November 2004.

Marsden Fund PhD-scholarship, University of Otago, New Zealand. February 2002 – February 2005.