Michael Wimberly

Dr. Mike Wimberly is a Professor of Geography and Environmental Sustainability at the University of Oklahoma, where he serves as Interim Director of the Data Institute for Societal Challenges. He earned a B.A. from the University of Virginia, an M.S. from the University of Washington, and a Ph.D. from Oregon State University. Dr. Wimberly’s research focuses on improving the timeliness and accuracy of disease risk mapping and forecasting by examining how environmental change influences hosts, vectors, pathogens, and their transmission cycles. His work spans a range of vector-borne diseases, including arboviruses and tick-borne diseases in the United States, epidemic malaria in Ethiopia, and urban malaria in India. A central goal of his research is translating scientific insights into actionable tools for public health practice. He has led the development of decision-support platforms such as EPIDEMIA, a malaria early-warning system, and ArboMAP, a forecasting platform for West Nile virus outbreaks. Dr. Wimberly works closely with public health agencies and mosquito control organizations to co-develop these tools and build capacity for their effective implementation. His expertise includes the landscape ecology of infectious diseases, satellite remote sensing of environmental change, geographic information science, spatial statistics, and machine learning for geospatial applications.