Eric Wetzel is the Norman E. Treves Professor of Biology at Wabash. Dr. Wetzel was an undergraduate at Millersville University in Pennsylvania, where he grew up. He then went to North Carolina where he did his M.S. and Ph.D work at Wake Forest University. After teaching at WFU for 1.5 years, he joined the Wabash faculty in 1996. His teaching and research are centered on the field of invertebrate zoology (animals without backbones) with particular interests in ‘wormy’ kinds of parasites (helminths). More specifically, his research examines the ecology of parasites of wild host animals such as fish, frogs, mollusks and crayfish. It’s no surprise, then, that Dr. Wetzel’s work involves both field and laboratory work. He has led course-related immersion trips to the Gulf Coast, to the coral reefs of Jamaica and Belize, and to the Amazonian rainforest of Peru. Dr. Wetzel is currently working on an initiative in Global Health at Wabash with multi-disciplinary teaching and research collaborations in the South American country of Peru including rainforest, mountain and coastal regions. In particular he is interested in parasitic and infectious disease problems of those living in poverty.

Dr. Wetzel enjoys interacting with students both inside and outside the classroom / lab. Married with five children he and his family often invite students in upper-level classes to dinner at their home in Lafayette, IN. He enjoys spending time with his family, playing a variety of sports, reading, hiking and fishing, and involvement in the life of their church including adult education classes.

Ph.D Biology, Wake Forest University, December 1995
M.S. Biology, Wake Forest University, May 1992
B.S. Biology, Millersville University, 1989

BIO 111 & 112 – General Biology I & II
BIO 177 – Global Health
BIO 213 – Ecology
BIO 222 – Biology of the Invertebrates
BIO 226 – Parasitology
BIO 387 / 388 – Independent Study
BIO 401 – Senior Seminar
Freshman Tutorial
Cultures & Traditions

Cárdenas–Callirgos, J.; Rojas-Camacho, F.; Tineo-Valencia, M.; Torres-Márquez, A.; Vilcapoma-Serpa, P.; Zarate-Vaella, T.; Puray-Chávez, N.; Wetzel, E. 2010. Presencia de agentes etiológicos de toxocariosis y evaluación de factores de riesgo epidemiológico en el AA.HH El Trébol-Pamplona Alta, Lima-Perú. Poster given at 2^nd Peruvian Congress of Neotropical Parasitology, Lima, Peru.

Wetzel, E.J. 2010. Invited talk - Ecologia Parasitaria [Ecology of Parasites], presented at Universidad Cientifica del Peru, Iquitos, Peru. Feb. 2010.

Wetzel, E.J. 2010. Taught one-day mini-course on “Ecological Parasitology: Transmission Ecology of the Trematoda at Universidad Nacional de San Martin, March 11, 2010, Tarapoto, Peru.

Wetzel, E.J. 2008. Invited talk – Big decisions in a small stream: Population dynamics and life history of Crepidostomum cornutum (Trematoda: Allocreadiidae) in its two intermediate hosts. 1^st Peruvian Congress of Helminthology and Associated Invertebrates – International Meeting of Asociación Peruana de Helmintología e Invertebrados Afines (APHIA). Lima, Peru.

(* indicates Wabash student)

Literak, I., P. Heneberg, J. Sitko, E. Wetzel, J. Cardenas Callirgos, M. Capek, D. Valle Basto, I. Papousek. An outbreak of eye trematode infection in small passerines in Peru caused by Philophthalmus lucipetus, an agent with a zoonotic potential spread by an invasive freshwater snail. In review, Parasitology (7/9/12)

Wetzel, E.J. 2009. Editorial - Opportunities for research in helminthology in Peru: My own experience. Neotropical Helminthology 3:5-6.

Wetzel, E.J. & E.W. Shreve*. 2003. The influence of habitat on the distribution and abundance of metacercariae of Macravestibulum obtusicaudum (Pronocephalidae) in a small Indiana stream. The Journal of Parasitology 89(5): 1088-1090.

Ferrell, D.L.* , N.J. Negovetich*, & E.J. Wetzel. 2001. Effect of temperature on the infectivity of metacercariae of Zygocotyle lunata (Digenea: Paramphistomidae). The Journal of Parasitology 87(1): 10-13.

Wetzel, E.J., R. Waldon*, C. Pohl*, & O. Mainuddin*. Life history trade-offs made by sphaeriid clams infected with the allocreadiid trematode Crepidostomum cornutum. Manuscript to be submitted to The Journal of Parasitology.

GLCA New Directions Initiative Grant, "Global Health as a New Direction: Next Steps", 2011

GLCA New Directions Initiative Grant, “Global Health as a New Direction: First Steps”, 2010

Faculty Development Grant in support of sabbatical work in Peru, Wabash College, Oct. 2009

Sabbatical extension for work on Global Health, Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts, Wabash College, Fall 2008.

McLain-McTurnan-Arnold Research Scholar Award, Wabash College, Spring 2003

Global Health Blogs: http://blogs.wabash.edu/peru_parasites_globalhealth/  and http://blogs.wabash.edu/immersionlearning/category/global-health-in-peru/

Amazon Immersion Trip Blog: http://blogs.wabash.edu/immersionlearning/2011/03/16/an-immersion-in-peruvian-culture/