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Korine N. Kolivras

Professor
Korine N. Kolivras
201 Wallace Hall (0115)
295 West Campus Drive
Blacksburg, VA
24061
korine@vt.edu
540-231-5514

I am an environmental geographer with specialization and expertise in medical geography and the examination of links between environmental variability and human health. My main research thread focuses on emerging infectious diseases and the underlying processes that explain their distributions and diffusion. In particular, I have examined Lyme disease’s southward emergence into Virginia for the past ten years, with a specific focus on the potential role of land cover. While I continue to engage with emerging infectious diseases, I have recently become part of a trans-disciplinary team examining land cover change and human health impacts in Central Appalachia.

Areas of Expertise:

  • Health and medical geography
  • Climate and health
  • Environmental variability and disease emergence
  • Public health applications of geospatial techniques

Education:

  • Ph.D. University of Arizona, 2004
  • M.A. University of Arizona, 2000
  • B.A. Shippensburg University, 1997
  • Medical Geography and Advanced Medical Geography (GEOG 4074/5074)
  • Geographic Theory & Research (GEOG 5014)
  • Health and the Global Environment (GEOG 5214)
  • Mahjabin Kabir Adrita. 2024. M.S. Climatic and social factors contributing to the persistence of malaria in the Chittagong Hills tracts of Bangladesh.
    Professor(s): Korine N. Kolivras
  • Geoffrey Otieno. 2024. M.S. The emergence of lyme disease in Appalachia (2000-2019).
    Professor(s): Korine N. Kolivras
  • Balaji Ramesh. 2022. M.S. Estimating Health Risks Associated with Flooding following Hurricante Harvey using Earth Observations and the CDC Social Vulnerability Index.
    Professor(s): Korine N. Kolivras
  • Holly Young. 2021. M.S. Examining the Relationship Between Safe Drinking Water Violations and Adverse Birth Outcomes in Virginia.
    Professor(s): Korine N. Kolivras
  • Molly McKnight. 2020. M.S. Examining the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem: Associations Between Surface Mining and Birth Outcomes in Central Appalachia at Multiple Spatial Scales.
    Professor(s): Korine N. Kolivras
  • Elizabeth Weaver. 2019. Ph.D. Investigating the Valley Fever – Environment Relationship in the Western U.S.
    Professor(s): Korine N. Kolivras
  • Megan Stevenson. 2019. M.S. The Effects of Land Cover Change on the Spatial Distribution of Lyme Disease in Northern Virginia since 2005.
    Professor(s): Korine N. Kolivras
  • Shreejana Bhattaria 2018. M.S. Understanding the Relationship between Land Use/Land Cover and Malaria in Nepal.
    Professor(s): Korine N. Kolivras
  • Logan Stevens. 2018. M.S. Future Lyme Disease Risk in the Southeastern United States Based on Projected Land Cover.
    Professor(s): Korine N. Kolivras
  • J.T. Bandzuh. 2016. M.S. Perceptions of Measures to Control Aedes Mosquitoes and Mosquito-Borne Diseases in Costa Rica.
    Professor(s): Luke Juran and Korine N. Kolivras
  • Lauren Freelander. 2015. M.S. Socio-Demographic and Environmental Influences on the Prevalence of Childhood Obesity in North Carolina.
    Professor(s): Korine N. Kolivras and Hill
  • Ayanda Masilela. 2014. M.S. Discerning Neighborhood Characteristics as Contributing Factors to Infant Mortality in Rural Northern Plains Communities.
    Professor(s): Korine N. Kolivras
  • Jayashree Surendrababu. 2014. M.S. Modeling the Impact of Projected Land Cover on Lyme Disease Emergence.
    Professor(s): Korine N. Kolivras


Spatiotemporal analysis of adverse birth outcomes in Central Appalachia.
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
Investigator(s): Julia Gohlke (PI), Korine Kolivras, Linsey Marr, Leigh-Anne Krometis, and Shyam Ranaganathan (co-PIs).
Amount: $425,750
2018-2020

Zooming In On Adverse Birth Outcomes in Coalfield Regions of Central Appalachia.
Sponsor: Powell River Project
Investigator(s): Julia Gohlke (PI), Korine Kolivras, and Leigh-Anne Krometis (co-PIs).
Amount: $19,940
2017-2018


Environmental Variability and Disease Emergence: Spatial Patterns of Lyme Disease Emergence in Virginia.
Sponsor: National Science Foundation 
Investigator(s): Korine Kolivras (PI), James Campbell, David Gaines, Yili Hong, and Stephen Prisley (co-PIs).
Amount: $199,998
2011-2013

  • Young HA, Kolivras KN, Krometis L-AH, Marcillo CE, Gohlke JM (2024). Unregulated drinking water contaminants and adverse birth outcomes in Virginia. PLOS Water 3(5): e0000208. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000208
  • Albritton, M., Kolivras, K., Chang, B., Copeland, N., Prado, G.G., & Krometis, L. (2024). "Dying of Thirst, Like Fish in the Sea": Syndemic Health Impacts and Environmental Risk Perceptions Associated with Mining among the Ch'orti' of Eastern Guatemala. Journal of Latin American Geography 23(1), 48-79. 
    https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/lag.2024.a929687.
  • Young HA, Kolivras KN, Krometis L-AH, Marcillo CE, Gohlke JM. (2023). Examining the association between safe drinking water act violations and adverse birth outcomes in Virginia. Environmental Research 218. 
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.114977
  • Smith E, Krometis L-AH, Czuba JA, Kolivras KN. (2023). Land cover and community water system characteristics as predictors of Safe Drinking Water Act violations in Central Appalachia, USA. Science of the Total Environment 858(2). 
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159726
  • McKnight, M. X., Kolivras, K. N., Buttling, L. G., Gohlke, J. M., Marr, L. C., Pingel, T. J., & Ranganathan, S. (2022). Associations between surface mining airsheds and birth outcomes in Central Appalachia at multiple spatial scales. GeoHealth, 6, e2022GH000696. 
    https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GH000696
  • Ramesh, B, Jagger MA, Zaitchik B, Kolivras KN, Swarup S, Deanes L, Hallisey E, Sharpe DJ, Gohlke JM. (2022). Flooding and emergency department visits: Effect modification by the CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 76(3):102986
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2022.102986
  • Ruktanonchai, CW, McKnight, X., Buttling, L, Kolivras KN, Krometis L-AH, Gohlke JM. (2022). Identifying exposure pathways mediating adverse birth outcomes near active surface mines in Central Appalachia. Environmental Epidemiology 6(3):p e208.
    https://doi.org/10.1097/EE9.0000000000000208
  • Ramesh, B, Jagger MA, Zaitchik B, Kolivras KN, Swarup S, Yang B, Corpuz BG, Gohlke JM. (2022). Estimating changes in emergency department visits associated with floods caused by Tropical Storm Imelda using satellite observations and syndromic surveillance. Health & Place 74. 
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2022.102757
  • Ramesh, B., Jagger, M. A., Zaitchik, B., Kolivras, K. N., Swarup, S., Deanes, L., & Gohlke, J. M. (2021). Emergency department visits associated with satellite observed flooding during and following Hurricane Harvey. Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology, 31(5), 832-841.
     https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-021-00361-1
  • Buttling, LG., McKnight, MX, Kolivras, KN, Ranganathan, S, Gohlke, JM. (2021). Maternal proximity to Central Appalachia surface mining and birth outcomes. Environmental Epidemiology 5(1):p e128 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/EE9.0000000000000128
  • Marston, M. L. & Kolivras, K. N. (2021). Identifying Surface Mine Extent Across Central Appalachia Using Time Series Analysis, 1984-2015. International Journal of Applied Geospatial Research (IJAGR), 12(1), 1-15.
    https://doi.org/10.4018/IJAGR.2021010103
  • Weaver, E.*, K.N. Kolivras, R.Q. Thomas, V.A. Thomas, and K.M. Abbas. 2020. Environmental factors affecting the ecological niche of Coccidioides species and spatial dynamics of valley fever in the United States. Spatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology 32. 
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sste.2019.100317.
  • Stevens, L.K.*, K.N. Kolivras, Y. Hong, V.A. Thomas, J.B. Campbell, and S.P. Prisley. 2019. Future Lyme disease risk in the south-eastern United States based on projected land cover. Geospatial Health 14: 153-162. 
    https://doi.org/10.4081/gh.2019.751
  • Xie, Y., L. Xu, J. Li, X. Deng, Y. Hong, K.N. Kolivras, and D. Gaines. 2019. Spatial variable selection and an application to Virginia Lyme disease emergence. Journal of the American Statistical Association. 
    https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.2018.1564670.
  • Sherry, J.*, L. Juran, K.N. Kolivras, L.H. Krometis, and E.J. Ling. 2019. Perceptions of water services and innovation to improve water services in Tanzania. Public Works Management & Policy 24(3): 260-283. 
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1087724X18815486.
  • Weaver, E.* and K.N. Kolivras. 2018. Investigating the relationship between climate and valley fever (coccidioidomycosis). EcoHealth 15(4): 840-852. 
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-018-1375-9
  • Chanda, E., M. Arshad, A. Khaloua, W. Zhang, J. Namboze, P. Uusiku, A.H. Angula, K. Gausi, D. Tiruneh, Q.M. Islam, K.N. Kolivras, and U. Haque. 2018. An investigation of the Plasmodium falciparum malaria epidemic in the Zambezi region of Namibia in 2016. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 112(12): 546-554. 
    https://doi.org/10.1093/trstmh/try097
  • Krometis, L.H., J. Gohlke, K.N. Kolivras, E. Satterwhite, S.W. Marmagas, and L.C. Marr. 2017. Environmental health disparities in the Central Appalachian region of the United States. Reviews in Environmental Health 32(3): 253-266. 
    https://doi.org/10.1515/reveh-2017-0012
  • Bandzuh, J.T.*, L. Juran, K.N. Kolivras, and A. Wallis. 2017. Local perceptions of measures to control Aedes mosquitoes and mosquito-borne diseases in Puntarenas and San José, Costa Rica. Journal of Latin American Geography 16(2): 139-162. 
    https://www.jstor.org/stable/44861335
  • Juran, L., J. Trivedi, and K.N. Kolivras. 2017. Considering the ‘public’ in public health: popular resistance to the Smallpox Eradication Programme in India. Indian Journal of Medical Ethics 2(2): 104-111.
    https://doi.org/10.20529/ijme.2017.025
  • Seukep, S.E.*, K.N. Kolivras, Y. Hong, J. Li, S.P. Prisley, J.B. Campbell, D.N. Gaines, and R.L. Dymond. 2015. An examination of the demographic and environmental variables correlated with Lyme disease emergence in Virginia. EcoHealth 12(4): 634-644. 
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-015-1034-3
  • Li, J., K.N. Kolivras, Y. Hong, Y. Duan*, S.E. Seukep*, S. Prisley, J. Campbell, D. Gaines. 2014. Spatial and temporal emergence pattern of Lyme disease in Virginia. American Journal of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene. 91(6): 1166-1172.
    https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.13-0733

*student collaborator

 

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