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Patrick Heffernan

@pmheffernan.bsky.social
98 followers 147 following 53 posts

Vector-borne disease ecologist | PhD Candidate at Notre Dame | NIH F31 Research Fellow |🦟|✍️|☕️ medium.com/@pmheffernan heffernanp.substack.com

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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 23h
If you are on campus at ND next Friday (10/9) before the Notre Dame-Stanford football game, make sure to stop by the Eck Visitors Center from 12-3. We will be hosting the first Notre Dame InsectFest! We will be highlighting researchers at ND, local insect diversity, arthropod vectors, and more!
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
For this week's Eco-Env Ethics Reading Group, we discussed "Seeing the Forest and the Trees: Realism about Communities and Ecosystems" (2007) by @jayode.bsky.social, which beautifully explores the nature of communities and ecosystems 🌱
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Dragonflies finishing their molting in the reflection pond for Touchdown Jesus. Love seeing a healthy ecosystem even in the middle of campus!
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Mothlight (1963, Stan Brakhage) is the greatest insect movie of all time. It challenges the way in which all films are made, embeds itself in a conservation narrative still relevant 60 years later, and brings the dead back to life. pmheffernan.medium.com/the-greatest...
pmheffernan.medium.com
The greatest insect film of all time: Stan Brakhage, Mothlight, and Colorado moths
The greatest insect film of all time — Stan Brakhage, Mothlight, and Colorado moths You probably won’t like this movie recommendation. The movie has no words, no sound, and no immediately …
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
For today's Eco-Env Ethics Reading Group, we read "Ethics requirements for environmental research" (2023) from J Macdonald & M Simon in the Australas. J. of Environ. Manag. We had a great discussion on the benefits, drawbacks, and challenges to ethics oversight and guidelines for outdoor research!
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Just finished reading Children of Time by @aptshadow.bsky.social. It might be my new favorite example of entomological world building! Such a fun exploration of rapid evolution and interplay between spiders and ants. I loved that Max Barclay and @nhm-london.bsky.social Ento Dept helped advise it!
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Today we held our first meeting of the Ecological and Environmental Ethics Reading Group at Notre Dame, connecting ecologists and philosophers together on campus!
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
I've been having so much fun at #ESA2026 in Salt Lake City! I always love the amazing diversity of incredible talks and posters. I'm quite proud to be a part of the ecology community. Thank you to everyone that came to hear me talk about how insecticide gradients and mosquito thermal dynamics today!
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Mosquitoes can develop in the places you'd least expect! I found ~200 larvae developing on the lid of a bin in my backyard after it rained last week. An excellent reminder to survey my property for standing water. Reducing larval habitats is one of the easiest and most effective control methods!
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
Had a blast showcasing the role mosquitoes play in ecosystems (and raising awareness for larval source management) at the inaugural ND Frog Fest!!
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
This spring, my spouse and I have been counting the number of ticks we’ve found on our dog after every walk we take. So far, we’ve found 190 ticks, with the highest number of ticks-per-walk on nature trails and in warmer weather.
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
🦟 New pre-print out! “Insecticide temephos alters thermal dependence of dengue vector” I’m very happy to share my first bioRxiv pre-print from my graduate studies! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
My first research experience was assisting researchers at the Niwot Ridge LTER in the Colorado Rockies. The scientists I worked with there were passionate, kind, and dedicated. The LTER system has always been great people doing great research. It is unacceptable to shutter such a valuable network.
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Could the scrael from The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss be real? I'd certainly like to think so. open.substack.com/pub/hefferna...
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
Very grateful to have one of my short stories released in our local library journal today! This piece (an amalgamation of sci-fi, horror, and fantasy) is heavily inspired by my favorite type of pathogen: viroids.
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Reposted by Patrick Heffernan
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine @lshtm.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
📢 1st global “early warning system” for #dengue launches New online dashboard gives governments & the public a real-time picture of global dengue situation for the first time. #PublicHealth www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/n...
“For the first time, governments and the public can see how serious dengue is in different parts of the world.” Oliver Brady, Professor of Spatial Epidemiology, LSHTM
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 21/12/2025
30 years ago today, the world of vector biology lost George B. Craig, Jr., a leading expert on Aedes mosquitoes. At Notre Dame, I’m lucky enough to work in his insectaries and care for his books. Here are some of my reflections on his legacy that I’ve had here. open.substack.com/pub/hefferna...
open.substack.com
From the library of George B. Craig, Jr.
Reflections from 30 years onward
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
Loved Eric Ochomo’s call to action during the George B. Craig memorial lecture! Fighting vector-borne disease requires united, integrated, and bold actions now more than ever.
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
insideclimatenews.org/news/1011202...
insideclimatenews.org
A Disease-Carrying Mosquito Has Landed in the Rocky Mountains Where It Historically Couldn’t Survive - Inside Climate News
The Aedes aegypti mosquito that can carry dengue was thought to be too reliant on a hot and wet climate to survive in the Mountain West. But now, a population is thriving in Western Colorado.
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
Had a blast presenting at and attending #PHAM2025!
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 16/08/2025
I’m incredibly grateful to be funded through the NIH. Because of their support, I’m able to conduct research that helps fight mosquito-borne disease. The NIH funds countless researchers dedicated to helping improve human lives, and I hope they continue to give us that opportunity
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
Had so much fun with @rohrecologylab.bsky.social at #ESA2025! Can’t wait to be back
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
Just got to present @eselland.bsky.social and I’s Schistosomiasis lab project at ESA! While I primarily work with mosquitoes now, learning about Schistosomiasis in undergrad parasitology was what convinced me to become a disease ecologist. Such a cool full circle moment for me!
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
While out walking, this pair of insects fell from the tree canopy and landed right in front of me!
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
I’m normally an Aedes guy, but I had a blast learning how to do Anopheles midgut and salivary gland dissections today with members of the @aacostaserrano.bsky.social lab today! They’re the best!
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Took a brief break from honeymooning to identify hundreds of Aedes albopictus larvae in a standing water basin at Villa Monastero in Varenna, Italy. Remember to drain or dump standing water!
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
Working on this project with @eselland.bsky.social and @rohrecologylab.bsky.social has been incredibly rewarding! Can’t wait to present on it further at ESA this fall 🐌
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Reposted by Patrick Heffernan
Emily Selland, PhD (she/her) @eselland.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
Thanks to everyone at @eeid2025.bsky.social for listening to me present our work yesterday on #schistosomiasis transmission across two ecological gradients! 🐌🪱 Excited to see how this project continues to take shape with @pmheffernan.bsky.social and the @rohrecologylab.bsky.social crew!
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
Turtles are out and rhododendrons in full bloom. Finally beginning to feel like a lovely summer 🐢☀️😁
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
What an amazing day discussing my field with legislators at the state capitol! I focused my presentation on how and why the thermal performance of vectors and pathogens should inform interventions and control strategies against mosquito-borne diseases across Indiana 🦟
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 05/01/2025
Loving these rainy days in the PNW 😄
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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
I really enjoyed Wendy S. Parker’s exploration of the adequacy-for-purpose view of assessing models. Determining if models are a solution in their problem space (target, user, methodology, circumstances, and purpose) is an excellent exercise for crafting holistic and purposeful science
cambridge.org
Model Evaluation: An Adequacy-for-Purpose View | Philosophy of Science | Cambridge Core
Model Evaluation: An Adequacy-for-Purpose View - Volume 87 Issue 3
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