My research focuses on insect pathogens, insecticide resistance, and tick-host interactions. I use molecular techniques and advanced computational tools to explore and answer research questions.
Education
University of Kentucky (Lexington, KY)
Department of Entomology
PhD (2018 - 2021)
Texas State University (San Marcos, TX)
Department of Biology
Master of Science (2011 - 2016)
Hacettepe University (Ankara, Turkiye)
Institute of Natural Sciences
Master of Science (2007 - 2010)
Hacettepe University (Ankara, Turkiye)
Department of Biology
Bachelor of Science (2001 - 2007)
Work Experience
Post Doctoral Research Associate · 2022 – 2025, Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University (College Station, TX)
Research Assistant · 2018 – 2022, Entomology Department, University of Kentucky (Lexington, KY)
Laboratory Technician · 2016 – 2018, Entomology Department, University of Kentucky (Lexington, KY)
Research Assistant · 2012 – 2015, Department of Biology (Texas State University - San Marcos, TX)
Teaching Assistant · 2011 – 2012, Genetics Lab, Dept. of Biology (Texas State University - San Marcos, TX)
Coordinator · 2010, Determination of Invertebrate Fauna and Surveying Zoogeographic Variations of Balıkesir - Havran Region (Turkiye) Caves Project (TUBITAK)
Cave Researcher · 2009, Sustainable Development and Protection of Natural Resources and Biodiversity of Yildiz Mountains Project (UNDP and Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Turkiye)
Field Assistant · 2007 – 2009, Ecology Based Nature Education in Kemaliye, Turkiye
Field Assistant · 2001 – 2005, Aladaglar Deep Cave Research Expedition, (Turkish and Ukrainian Speleological Associations)
Teaching Experience
Genetics Laboratory (2 sections, 3 semesters) at Texas State University
Bioinformatics and Data Mining Methods (9 Undergraduate students, 2 semesters) via Aggie Research Programs at Texas A&M University
Training and mentoring co-workers on molecular and computational methods (University of Kentucky and Texas A&M University)
Research Interests
Insect metagenomics and transcriptomics
Surveillance of insect viruses and insect-borne pathogens using molecular and computational methods
Surveillance of insecticide resistance caused by target-site insensitivity
Tick-host interactions and immune dynamics
Data mining in large sequence databases to investigate virus presence and prevalence
Simulations of protein-ligand dynamics, virtual docking and in silico drug-discovery
Two- and three-dimensional morphometrics and molecular phylogenetics
Professional Qualifications
Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
Fully reproducible DNA and RNA -omics and biological data mining (advanced)
Structural bioinformatics - protein folding, ligand docking and molecular dynamics (intermediate)
Comparative genomics and phylogenetics (intermediate)
High-power research computing (HPRC) systems and SLURM workload management (advanced)
NextFlow/NF-core reproducible workflow systems (intermediate)
BASH and R scripting (advanced), C++ and SQL (intermediate), PHP and Java (basic)
Laboratory Skills
BSL2-compliant NGS-grade RNA and DNA isolation and processing (advanced)
Conventional PCR, qPCR and Sanger sequencing (advanced)
Sterile techniques, cell culture maintenance and insect colony rearing (advanced)
Insect dissections and cell preparation for single cell protocols (intermediate)
Additional Skills
Invertebrate collection, identification, dissection, and preservation (intermediate)
Collections management, and bovine sampling procedures (intermediate)
Confocal microscopy (advanced), micro-CT (intermediate), and 3D reconstructions (intermediate)
Publications
[Submitted] E. Ozel, B. Webb (2026). Heliothine Nudiviruses in Public Sequence Databases: A Survey. Journal of Invertebrate Pathogens.
T. Magalhaes, D. C. Leandro, E. Ozel, X. Liang, B. Lyons, T. K. Scheel, J. E. Tomlinson, P. E. Kaufman (2025). Laboratory and field data show no evidence of mosquito transmission of equine hepacivirus. Journal of Medical Entomology.
Michael R.J. Forstner, S. McCracken, and E. Ozel (2014); Minimizing Wildlife-Motorist Interactions, Annual Report for Texas Department of Transportation. Texas State University, San Marcos.
Brown, D. J., W. H. Nowlin, E. Ozel, I. Mali, D. Episcopo, M. C. Jones, and M. R. J. Forstner (2014). Comparison of short term low, moderate, and high severity fire impacts to aquatic and terrestrial habitat components of a southern USA mixed pine forest. Forest Ecology and Management 312(2014):179-192.
Brown, D. J., D. B. Preston, E. Ozel, and M. R. J. Forstner (2013). Wildfire impacts on fire ant captures around forest ponds in the Lost Pines of Texas. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management 4(1):129-133
[Under PI review.] E. Ozel, B. Webb; Heliothine Nudivirus Prevalence in the Cotton Belt Region and Surrounding States.
[Under PI review] E. Ozel, B. Lyons, J. Solomon, P. E. Kaufman; Pathogen Prevalence, Pyrethroid Resistance and Genetic Lineages in Rhipicephalus sanguineus Populations in Texas and Surrounding States.
[In prep.] E. Ozel, B. Webb; Genomic Features of Heliothis virescens Nudivirus.
[In prep.] E. Ozel, P. E. Kaufman; Immune response of tick-mediated (Amblyomma maculatum) gene expression dynamics in tick-susceptible (Hereford) and tick-resistant (Brahman) cattle.
[In prep.] E. Ozel, P. E. Kaufman; Enhancing metagenomic sequences in NGS libraries using smart polymer compounds.
[In prep.] E. Ozel, P. E. Kaufman; An Unusual Outreach Strategy: Using Bioinformatics to Introduce Entomology and Genetics to Undergraduate Students from Diverse Backgrounds.
Patents
B. Webb and E. Ozel (2023). Mutant nudivirus insect control (United States Patent No. US20230159900A1). Disclosed are the H. zea nudivirus sequence and two additional related sequences from H. virescens and H. armigera nudiviruses for development of genetically modified nudiviruses capable of being sexually transmitted by an insect useful for controlling pest populations (https://patents.google.com/patent/US20230159900A1).
Presentations
Donald Brown, Devin Preston, Emrah Ozel and Michael Forstner (2012); The Effect of Canopy Cover, Prescribed Fire, Temperature and Precipitation on Red Imported Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta, RIFA) Activity in the Lost Pines Ecoregion of Texas. Texas Herpetological Society.
Donald Brown, Devin Preston, Emrah Ozel and Michael Forstner (2012); How do Fire Ants (Solenopsis invicta) respond to the changes brought on by last years wildfires in the Lost Pines region of Texas. International Research Conference for Graduate Students, Texas State University.
Emrah Ozel and Michael Forstner (2014); Exposure to RIFA may be a higher threat than previously considered: Seasonal habitat shifts of red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) negatively affects Houston toad distribution. (POSTER), 2014 THS Fall Symposium, Texas State University.
Emrah Ozel and Bruce Webb (2019); H. zea Nudivirus-2: A Novel Control Agent for Corn Earworm (Helicoverpa zea) Management, ESA Annual, St. Louis, MO.
Emrah Ozel and Bruce Webb (2020); A bioinformatic survey of Helicoverpa zea Nudivirus, ESA Annual Meeting, Virtual.
Emrah Ozel (2023); Brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus) lineages and acaricide resistance in Texas.
Emrah Ozel, Taylor Chapman and Phillip E. Kaufman (2023); Pathogen Prevalence, Pyrethroid Resistance and Genetic Lineages in Rhipicephalus sanguineus Populations in Texas and Surrounding States. ESA Entomology 2023 (National Harbor, MD).
Emrah Ozel, Taylor Chapman and Phillip E. Kaufman (2023); Screening Pyrethroid Resistance, Genetic Lineages and Pathogen Prevalence in Brown Dog Tick Populations in Texas and Surrounding States. ESA 2023 Joint North Central and Southwestern Branch Meeting (Oklahoma City, OK)
Emrah Ozel (2023); Pathogen prevalence, pyrethroid resistance and genetic Lineages in brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus) populations in Texas. 65th Annual Livestock Insect Workers Conference (Fredricksburg, TX).
Emrah Ozel and Phillip E. Kaufman (2024); Metagenomic Data Mining in Ixodid Datasets in Collaboration with Undergraduate Students. ESA 2024 Southwestern Branch Meeting (Albuquerque, NM)
Emrah Ozel (2024); An Unusual Outreach Strategy: Using Bioinformatics to Introduce Entomology and Genetics to Undergraduate Students from Diverse Backgrounds. 66th Annual Livestock Insect Workers Conference (FL)
Emrah Ozel, Taylor Chapman, Brandon Lyons and Phillip Kaufman (2025); Immune response of tick- mediated (Amblyomma maculatum) gene expression dynamics in tick-susceptible (Hereford) and tick- resistant (Brahman) cattle (Round Rock, TX)
Reports
Michael R.J. Forstner, S. McCracken, and E. Ozel (2014); Minimizing Wildlife-Motorist Interactions, Annual Report for Texas Department of Transportation. Texas State University, San Marcos.