Hi. I'm Darcy Visscher, a professor of biology at The King's University.

I am generally interested in the role that landscapes and individual behaviour play in structuring ecological processes. In particular, I am interested how animals respond to human disturbance, in urbanizing environments and the potential conflict that may arise from living in close proximity to urban wildlife. Recently I have been employing a One Health lens to understand zoonotic parasites in urban wildlife. I investigate these topics using the three pronged approach of developing theory, building models to test theory, and grounding these results using statistical analysis of field data. I am currently the Canada Research Chair in Urban Ecology.

CURRENT RESEARCH INTERESTS

Epidemiology of the zoonotic parasite Echinococcus spp. 

Monitoring wildlife using remote cameras

Foraging and stress in urban birds

Nonconsumptive effects of predation

PUBLICATIONS

• Yorke, A, K Cockwill, K Doornenbal, T Volappi, S Raymond, E Jenkins, CC St. Clair, & DR Visscher. (2026) Alveolar echinococcosis in a dog from an Alberta hotspot of coyote Echinococcus multilocularis infections and human alveolar echinococcosis cases. Accepted. Canadian Veterinary Journal.

• Rutherford, K, DR Visscher, G Fowler, & CC St. Clair. (2026) An expanding population of Roosevelt elk on Vancouver Island makes extensive use of agricultural land. In press. EcoSphere.

• Priestley C, Holroyd G, Priestly L, Lambe J, Welke C, & DR Visscher. (2026) Classifying the sex of Northern Saw-Whet owls (Aegolius acadicus) caught in autumn. Journal of Raptor Research. 60:1-9.

• Kemna C, P Walker, & DR Visscher. (2026) Patterns of waterfowl communities in wetlands in the Cooking Lake Moraine. Northwestern Naturalist. 107:29-38.

• Foca J, DR Visscher, M Becker, & MS Boyce. (2025) Camera trapping for density estimation: Comparing the TIFC model to aerial surveys for multiple ungulate populations. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. 197:1129.

• Rutherford, K, CC St. Clair, & DR Visscher. (2025) Elk and deer habituate to stationary deterrents in an agricultural landscape. Ecology and Evolution. 15: e71752.

• Middel, K, H. Strydhorst, H. McKenzie, C. Mainali, & DR Visscher (2025) Social context influences Toxoplasma gondii and Trichinella spp. infection in Alberta free-roaming wild pigs (Sus scrofa). PLoS One. 20: e0324617.

• Knodel, K, A Vanderleek, L Spyksma, S Scheuermann, & DR Visscher. (2024) The impact of seasonal cattle grazing on ungulate spatiotemporal behaviour in a multiuse recreational area in central Alberta. PLoS One. 19: e0313086.

• van Roekel K, L Snijders, & DR Visscher. (2024) The spatiotemporal behaviour of wild ungulates as a response to the hunting period in a fenced multi-use area. Wildlife Research. 51: WR24027.

• Horn CJ, DR Visscher, & LT Luong. (2024) Parasites and the ecology of fear: Nonconsumptive effects of ectoparasites on larvae reduce growth in simulated Drosophila populations. Ecology and Evolution. 14: e70079.

• Burton AC, et al. (2024) Mammal responses to global changes in human activity vary by trophic group and landscape. Nature Ecology & Evolution. 8:924-935.

• Toews E, M Musiani, A Smith, S Checkley, DR Visscher, & A Massolo. (2024) Echinococcus multilocularis infections in owned domestic dogs in a North American metropolis. Scientific Reports. 14: 5066.

• Visscher DR, E Toews, J Pattison, P Walker, C Kemna, M Musiani, & A Massolo. (2023) Host spatiotemporal overlap in a park with high endemicity of Echinococcus multilocularis. Frontiers in Parasitology. 2:1161108.

• Visscher DR, P Walker, M Flowers, C Kemna, J Pattison, & B Kushnerick. (2023) Human impact on deer use is greater than predators and competitors in a multi-use recreation area. Animal Behaviour. 197:61-69.

• Visscher DR, I MacLeod, M Janzen, K Visser, A Lekas, K Vujnovic, & D Vujnovic. (2022) Wildlife friendly fences and elk crossing behaviour. Wildlife Society Bulletin. e1400.

• Horn CJ, DR Visscher, & LT Luong. (2022) Relative contributions of parasite consumptive and non-consumptive effects to host population suppression in simulated fly-mite populations. Oecologia. 200:339-347.

• Visscher, DR, E Porter, S Sweet, D Szlosek, & S Horr (2022) Canine nematode and Giardian spp. infections in dogs in Edmonton, Alberta, the “CANIDA” Study. Parasites & Vectors. 15: 1-15.

• Visscher DR, & JR Wood. (2022) Decadal trends in a population of urban White-tailed jackrabbits at the northern edge of its range. Mammal Research. 67:457-465.

• Porter E, MA Seguin, M Estrada, D Szlosek, A Massolo, & DR Visscher (2022) Assessing the potential for infections of Echinococcus multilocularis in dogs in a hotspot of human alveolar echinococcosis infections in North America. Veterinary Parasitology: Regional Studies and Reports 29: 100704.

• Visscher, DR. (2021) Invited Book Review of “Modeling Populations of Adaptive Individuals” by  Railsback and Harvey.  Quarterly Review of Biology

• Toews E, S Checkley, M Musiani, DR Visscher, and A Massolo. (2021)  A global assessment of Echinococcus multilocularis infections in domestic dogs: proposing a framework to overcome past methodological heterogeneity. International Journal for Parasitology. 

• Janzen M, A Ritter, P Walker, and DR Visscher. (2019). EventFinder: a semi-automated program for classifying images captured by camera traps. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 191: 406.

• Peters, VS and DR Visscher.  (2019)  Seed availability does not ensure regeneration in northern ecosystems of the endangered Limber pine.   Forests 10: 146: doi:10.3390/f10020146

• DeWitt, P*, DR Visscher*, M Schuler, and R Thiel. (2019) Predation risks suppress lifetime fitness in a wild mammal. Oikos *shared first authorship.

• Visscher DR, A Unger, M Grobbelaar, and PD DeWitt. (2018) Bird foraging is influenced by both risk and connectivity in urban parks. Journal of Urban Ecology.

• Visscher DR, & EH Merrill. (2018) Functional connectivity in ruminants: A generalized state-dependent modelling approach. PLoS One. 13:e0199671.

• Janzen M, K Visser, DR Visscher, I MacLeod, D Vujnovic, and K Vujnovic. (2017). Semi-automated camera trap image processing for the detection of ungulate fence crossing events. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. 189: 527

• Peters, VS, M Gelderman, and DR Visscher. (2017) Resiliency in masting systems: Do evolved seed escape strategies benefit an endangered pine? Ecosphere. 8:01928. 10.1002/ecs2.1928.

• DeWitt, P, M Schuler, DR Visscher, and R Thiel. (2017) Nutritional state reveals complex consequences of risk in a wild predator-prey community. Proceeding of the Royal Society - B. 284: 20170757

• Visscher DR, I MacLeod, K Vujnovic, D Vujnovic, P DeWitt. (2017) Human risk induced behavioural shifts in refuge use by elk in an agricultural matrix. Wildlife Society Bulletin. 41:162-169.

• Visscher DR, PK Martin, & EH Merrill. (2017) Hierarchical trade-offs between risk and reward mediated by behaviour. Mammal Research. 62:129-140.

• Van Moorter, B, DR Visscher, I Herfindal, M Basille and A Mysterud. (2013) Inferring behavioural mechanisms in habitat selection studies - getting the null-hypothesis right for functional and familiarity responses. Ecography. 36:323-330.

• Van Moorter B, DR Visscher, CL Jerde, JL Frair, and EH Merrill. (2010) Identifying movement states from location data using cluster analysis. Journal of Wildlife Management. 74:588-594.

• McKenzie HW, CL Jerde, DR Visscher, EH Merrill, and MA Lewis. (2009) Inferring linear feature use in the presence of GPS measurement error. Environmental and Ecological Statistics. 16:531-546.

• Van Moorter B, DR Visscher, S Benhamou, L Borger, M Boyce, and JM Gaillard. (2009) Memory keeps you at home: A mechanistic model for home range emergence. Okios. 118:641-652.

• Visscher DR and EH Merrill. (2009) Temporal dynamics of forage succession for elk at two scales: Implications for forest management. Forest Ecology and Management. 257:96-106.

• Visscher DR. (2006) GPS measurement error and resource selection functions in a fragmented landscape. Ecography. 29:458-464.

• Visscher DR, EH Merrill, D Fortin, and JL Frair. (2006) Estimating woody browse availability for ungulates at increasing snow depths. Forest Ecology and Management. 222:348-354.

• Jerde CL and DR Visscher. (2005) GPS measurement error influences on movement model parameterization. Ecological Applications. 15:806-810.

• Frair, JL, EH Merrill, DR Visscher, D Fortin, H Beyer, and JM Morales. (2005) Scales of movement by elk (Cervus elaphus) in response to heterogeneity in forage resources and predation risk. Landscape Ecology. 20:273-287.

• Visscher DR, RJ van Aarde, and I Whyte. (2004) Environmental and maternal correlates of foetal sex ratios in the African buffalo and savanna elephant. Journal of Zoology (London). 264:111-116.