Education and/or Training

B.S.	1993	University of Minnesota - Minneapolis	Biology
Ph.D.	1999	University of Wisconsin – Madison	Bacteriology

Areas of Specialization and or Research Interests

Microbiology
Molecular Biology

Current USGS Research and Projects

Investigation of bat mortality in the northeastern U.S. caused by white-nose syndrome
Molecular epidemiology of avian cholera in North America
Molecular phylogeny of watermolds
Development and validation of fluorescence resonance energy transfer technology for the detection of types C and E botulinum neurotoxins in biological and environmental samples
Ecological immunology and pathogen resistance of amphibians in stressed Great Lakes ecosystems

Professional Experience

2003 – Present	Microbiologist, National Wildlife Health Center
1999 – 2003	Postdoctoral Fellow, National Institutes of Health
1993 – 1999	Research Assistant, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Department of Bacteriology

Selected Publications

Blehert, D.S., A.C. Hicks, M. Behr, C.U. Meteyer, B.M. Berlowski-Zier, E.L. Buckles, J.T.H. Coleman, S.R. Darling, A. Gargas, R. Niver, J.C. Okoniewski, R.J. Rudd, and W.B. Stone. Bat White-Nose Syndrome: An Emerging Fungal Pathogen? Science: In Press.

Constantine, D.G. Bat Rabies and Other Lyssavirus Infections. D.S. Blehert and M. Friend (Eds.). U.S. Geological Survey Circular. In Press.

Blehert, D.S., K.L. Jefferson, D.M. Heisey, M.D. Samuel, B.M. Berlowski, and D.J. Shadduck. 2008. Using amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis to differentiate isolates of Pasteurella multocida Serotype 1. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 44(2): 209-225.

Demcheck, D.K., D.M. Stoeckel, R.N. Bushon, D.S. Blehert, and D.J. Hippe. Bacteriological water quality in and around Lake Pontchartrain following hurricanes Katrina and Rita, pp. 239-244. In Farris, G.S., Smith, G.J., Crane, M.P., Demas, C.R., Robbins, L.L., and D. L. Lavoie, eds. 2007. Science and the storms – the USGS response to the hurricanes of 2005: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1306.

Rickard, A.H., R.J. Palmer, Jr., D.S. Blehert, S.R. Campagna, M.F. Semmelhack, P.G. Egland, B.L. Bassler, and P.E. Kolenbrander. 2006. Autoinducer 2: a concentration-dependent signal for mutualistic bacterial biofilm growth. Molecular Microbiology 60(6): 1446-1456.

Blehert, D.S., R.J. Palmer, Jr., J.B. Xavier, J.S. Almeida, and P.E. Kolenbrander. 2003. Autoinducer-2 production by Streptococcus gordonii DL1 and the biofilm phenotype of a luxS mutant are influenced by nutritional conditions. Journal of Bacteriology 185 (16): 4851-4860.