Nicholas Friedeman

For as long as he can remember Nick has been infatuated with wildlife. To this day the obsession has not stopped, rather it has sent him on a never ending desire to observe, study, and work with wildlife. It wasn't until right before starting his undergraduate degree that he gained a fascination for disease as well. The two interests formed the nexus that is wildlife disease and he never looked back.

Nick went to pursue a Bachelor of Science in both Conservation biology and Microbiology at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, then going on to pursue a Masters degree at Purdue University - Fort Wayne. It was there he studied a fungal disease in snakes commonly known as snake fungal disease on a project titled "The environmental associations of Ophidiomyces ophidiicola, the causative agent of ophidiomycosis in snakes". After he received his graduate degree he sought to gain experience outside of an academic setting. For a year he worked at an environmental consulting agency in Texas before he was presented with the fortunate opportunity to come to SCWDS and work under Dr. Michael Yabsley conducting tick work in the southeastern US. However, opportunity stuck again and gave Nick the chance to work on a regional muskrat study funded by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA). So eagerly, Nick jumped on as as a PhD student and began the work. The AFWA funding has been instrumental in getting the project off the ground. Nick hopes that his experimental backers can aid in the completion of a portion of the total regional muskrat project. A portion that will directly affect the regional study and subsequent management to follow in addition to future work with PFAS exposure in semi-aquatic mammals.

January 2025