Molecular biology, West Nile focus of Conrad native visiting Zambia

Crystal Hepp, who grew up on the plains of northcentral Montana, is currently on the plains of southern Africa’s Zambia where she is studying mosquitoes and pathogens they carry.

Hepp, a 1999 graduate of Conrad High School, is an assistant professor at Northern Arizona University’s School of Informatics, Computing and Cyber Systems where her research interests are metagenomic analysis, molecular evolution and disease epidemiology.

Her primary research focus is working with virus control agencies and state departments of health to understand the circulation and source locations of West Nile virus and other viruses carried by mosquitoes.

“The bottom line is we are trying to determine if there are certain locations in the western United States where West Nile virus is really well-established and if West Nile is emerging from those same locations every year,” Hepp said.

If that’s the case, those areas could be targeted for intervention efforts, Hepp said.

Hepp departed for Zambia from Great Falls Wednesday with her husband, Gordon Nathaniel, for more mosquito-related work.

NAU professors Carol Chambers and Faith Walker and several NAU Students, who left from Phoenix, are part of the research excursion, too.

Hepp will be collecting mosquitos and checking for viruses. The other professors will be using DNA sequencing methods to identify pathogens in the fecal matter of lions and other animals.

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“What we’d like to be able to do is develop detection methods for different kinds of pathogens,” Hepp said.

The work is also part of developing an international program for undergraduate students, she said. Results achieved from this trip “is our proof” it can be done, Hepp said.

Crystal and Nathaniel stopped in Montana first before departing so they could visit the Conrad-area ranch of her parents, Jerry and Donna Hepp.

Their daughter, Adyley, is staying with her grandparents until June 21 while her parents are in Africa. 

“There aren’t very many people who do what she does,” Jerry Hepp said of his daughter's work and travels.

During their stay at the Montana ranch before departing for Africa, Crystal and Nathaniel helped with cattle branding. And they were home when a grizzly bear visited the family ranch on the edge of Conrad. The bear was darted and relocated by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Crystal was out to catch something else during her stay at her parents' ranch.

“We’ve caught a lot of mosquitoes,” Crystal said Friday before catching a plane, noting she set traps to collect specimen. 

Hepp has a Ph.D in molecular biology and her specialty is pathogen genomics.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in microbiology at Montana State University. She worked in the bioinformatics lab at MSU. Bioinformatics involves using computational tools to acquire, store and analyze biological data including medical, behavioral, associated environmental and health data.

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As she considered her career, Hepp decided she wanted to target a virus in the United States and chose to focus on West Nile because it affects many people. The virus is most commonly spread to people by mosquito bites. About one in five people who are infected develop a fever and other symptoms and one in 150 infected people develop a serious, sometimes fatal, illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Hepp did her Ph.D work at Arizona State University in Tempe. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Pathogen and Microbiome Institute at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and then was hired as an assistant professor at NAU’s School of Informatics Computing and Cybersystems.