Dr. Kopsco is a disease ecologist interested in infectious disease emergence and spillover from wildlife to humans (and vice versa) as a result of human-induced climate and landscape alterations. Her research focuses on socio-ecological approaches to disease outbreak prediction and transmission prevention using field, laboratory, and statistical modeling tools, with the aim of identifying integrative One Health solutions.

At the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, she is using species distribution and geostatistical models to understand the ecology of ticks and tickborne disease in Illinois. Her prior work evaluated the use of community science approaches to tick surveillance on a nationwide scale, and the role migratory birds play in enzootic cycles of Lyme disease bacteria. She earned her Ph.D. in ecology from the University of Rhode Island, M.S. in ecology and evolution from Montclair State University, and B.A. in English literature from Rutgers University.