Ben Ridenhour

Dr. Ridenhour grew up in Logan, UT where both his parents were members of the Math Department at Utah State University. He attended college at Vanderbilt University, Utah State University, and Indiana University (Bloomington). After earning his Ph.D., Dr. Ridenhour served as a postdoctoral fellow at Washington State University and, subsequently, University of Idaho. From there he joined the Influenza Division at the US Centers for Disease Control, where he modeled seasonal influenza epidemics, vaccine effectiveness, other topics, and participated in the efforts to control 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic. Dr. Ridenhour has served on the faculty at the University of Notre Dame and, currently, at University of Idaho. His interests include playing guitar, puzzles, games, soccer, backpacking, hunting, fishing, skiing, and other outdoor activities.

My research focuses on the development and application of quantitative methods to better understand the evolutionary ecology of communities with a focus on human health. Mathematical biology, statistics, and other quantitative approaches are integral to my work. I have worked on topics including predator-prey coevolution, spatiotemporal dynamics and prevention of influenza, and microbial community dynamics. For the last several years I have focused heavily on two topics: 1) understanding interactions that occur within microbiomes and their consequences for human health and 2) epidemiological modeling of infectious diseases to optimize public health strategies. I use a wide array of mathematical techniques in my research including: dynamical systems, optimization, probability, statistics, numerical analysis, and computational approaches.