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Dr. Ivan Castro-Arellano

  • Professor - Biology
Portrait of Dr. Ivan Castro-Arellano

Biography and education

Dr. Ivan Castro-Arellano is an Associate Professor in the Biology Department at Texas State University. He earned his Ph.D. (2005) and M.S. (2000) in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from Texas State University and his B.S. (1997) from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. His research focuses on the effects on anthropogenic disturbance on natural systems, with special emphasis on pathogen-host interactions. He has done work also on invasive and endangered mammal species. His projects have covered several pathogens like hantaviruses, Borrelia (and other tick-borne pathogens), Leptospira and Trypanosoma.

Teaching Interests

Research Interests

  • Metsis, Vangelis (Principal), Percent Contribution: %33, Castro-Arellano, Ivan (Co-Principal), Percent Contribution: %33, Veech, Joseph A (Co-Principal), Percent Contribution: %33. Research Enhancement Grant - BioStream: Developing infrastructure for AI-driven wildlife video monitoring, Texas State University, $16000. (Funded: February 2025 - May 2026). Grant.
  • Castro-Arellano, Ivan (Principal). Studying Behavior and Testing Strategies to Reduce Impact of Wind Energy on Bats in Texas, Texas Parks and Wildlife State Wildlife Grants, State, $306403. (Funded: 2016 - 2019). Grant.
  • Castro-Arellano, Ivan (Co-Principal). Population genetic structure of Ixodes scapularis and disease transmission, National Institute of Health, Federal, $386463. (Funded: 2015 - 2017). Grant.
  • Castro-Arellano, Ivan (Principal). Research project for Integrated Control of the Southern Cattle Fever tick in Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture, State, $1000000. (Funded: 2014 - 2015). Grant.
  • Castro-Arellano, Ivan (Principal). Contribution of Bridge Dwelling Birds to Bacterial Quality Impairments, Texas Department of Transportation, $390014. (Funded: 2012 - 2014). Grant.
View all grants
  • Salgado, R., Barja, I., Hernandez, M. del C., Basilio, L., Castro-Arellano, I., Bonacic, C., & Rubio, A. (2022). Activity patterns and interactions of rodents in an assemblage composed by native species and the introduced black rat: implications for pathogen transmission. BMC Zoology, 7(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40850-022-00152-7
  • Cordoba-Aguilar, A., Ibarra-Cerdeña, C., Castro-Arellano, I., & Suzan, G. (2021). Tackling zoonoses in a crowded world: lessons to be learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. Acta Tropica, 214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actatropica.2020.105780
  • Milholland, M. T., Castro-Arellano, I., Suzan, G., Garcia-Pena, G. E., Lee, T. E., Rohde, R. E., … Mills, J. N. (2018). Global diversity and distribution of hantaviruses and their hosts. Eco Health, 15(1), 163–208. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-017-1305-2.
  • Castro-Arellano, I., Suzán, G., García-Peña, G. E., Rico, O., Rubio, A. V., Tolsá, M. J., … Guégan, J. (2015). Metacommunity and phylogenetic structure determine wildlife and zoonotic infectious disease patterns in time and space. Ecology and Evolution, 5, 865–873. https://doi.org/Http://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1404
  • Castro-Arellano, I., Feria-Arroyo, T. P., Gordillo-Perez, G., Cavazos, A. L., Vargas-Sandoval, M., Grover, A., … Esteve-Gassent, M. D. (2014). Implications of climate change on the distribution of the tick vector Ixodes scapularis and risk for Lyme disease in the Texas-Mexico transboundary region. Parasites and Vectors, 7, 199. https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-3305-7-199
View all scholarly/creative works
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Favorite Professor, Alpha Chi National College Honor Society. 2024
  • Award / Honor Recipient: 2017 Presidential Distinction Awards for Excellence in Scholarly/Creative Activities, College of Science and Engineering. 2017
  • Award / Honor Recipient: E. Kika de la Garza Science Fellow, United States Department of Agriculture. Hispanic Serving Institutions National Program. 2012
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Fulbright Scholarship, US Department of State. 1998 - 2000
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Teaching Award of Honor, Texas State Alumni Association. 2020
View all awards
  1. Chair

    Faculty Search Committee Wildlife Ecology

  2. Graduate Advisor

    Biology Graduate Student Association

  3. Member

    IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Anti-Bias) Committee from American Society of Mammalogists

  4. President

    Texas Society of Mammalogists

  5. Member

    Graduate Programs Committee

  6. Member

    Internal Advisory Board for the National Science Foundation (NSF) Partnership for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) Center for Intelligent Materials Assembly (CIMA)

  7. View all activities