Sonia M Altizer

Sonia Altizer is the Department Head of Entomology and a Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Georgia. She received her B.S. in biology from Duke University in 1992, and completed her Ph.D. in ecology at the University of Minnesota in 1998, followed by postdoctoral work at Princeton and Cornell University. Dr. Altizer has been at the University of Georgia since 2005.

Her research centers on animal migration, insect ecology, host-parasite dynamics, and conservation. Much of her recent work focuses on interactions between monarch butterflies and a protozoan parasite to better the consequences of long-distance migration for animal-pathogen interactions, and host-pathogen evolution. She also collaborates with student researchers to study how factors such as seasonality, anthropogenic change, and contact behavior influence the dynamics of pathogens affecting a birds, bats, amphibians and mammals.

Starting in 2006, Altizer founded and directed a community science project Monarch Health (www.monarchparasites.org) through her lab at UGA, to engage hundreds of volunteer participants in sampling wild monarch butterflies to help track the spread of a protozoan parasite across North America. She and members of her lab participate in outreach events, public forums and offer in-person and virtual lab tours to school groups and nature enthusiasts, to enhance public awareness of butterfly biology and conservation.

Altizer previously served as Interim Dean (2021-23), Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (2012-17), Academic Coordinator (2017-19), and Associate Dean for Research and Operations (2020-21) at the Odum School of Ecology. Under her leadership, the school created a new alumni board, student ambassadors program, interdisciplinary undergraduate AB ecology degree, increased student capacity and enrollment, and expanded funding for graduate assistants, faculty development, and for the undergraduate experiential learning. During her 2-year term as interim dean, the Odum School significantly updated facilities for research, instruction and collaboration, expanded communications with alumni, collaborators and friends of the school, established a new endowed PhD student scholarship, and recruited 5 new faculty members to join the school. From 2023-2025, Altizer served as the Odum School’s Director of Public Service and Outreach, to enhance the school’s engagement with public service, industry partners, and outreach activities.