Operations Research for Nature

Stopping the Next Pandemic at Its Source

Most emerging infectious diseases in humans originate in animals, especially wildlife. Managing wildlife diseases is critical for preventing the next pandemic. 

I am working with disease ecologists at Cornell Wildlife Health Lab and wildlife managers across north America to develop cost-effective management tool for chronic wasting disease (CWD, aka zombie deer disease). CWD poses serious threats to wildlife, agriculture, and public health. We are implementing this new tool in the SOP4CWD data warehouse; it will soon be available for use by more than 24 wildlife agencies. 

J. Wang, B. J. Hanley, N. E. Thompson, Y. Gong, D. P. Walsh, Y. Huang, C. Gonzalez-Crespo, J. G. Booth, J. N. Caudell, L. A. Miller, and K. L. Schuler (2025), Strategic Planning of Surveillance and Prevention for Emerging Infectious Disease (under revision at Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS)  

Conservation of Threatened Species

The Hainan gibbon is the rarest primate on the planet, with only 42 individuals known as of 2024.  Working with conservation biologists at the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park, we use operations research approaches to optimize the conservation of this rare flagship species. 

Learn more about our work from the paper: 

J. Wang, X. Song,  R. Yousefi, Z. Jiang (2024)  Optimal Learning and Management of Threatened Species, Management Science, 71(6): 4757-4776.

Managing Human-Wildlife Interface

Can analytics help reconcile the conflict between human economic interests and wildlife conservation? 

Ship strike is the leading cause of whale mortality. A widely used mitigation strategy is the implementation of vessel speed reduction (VSR) zones, where ships are asked to slow down. However, VSR can impose costs on mariners and lead to unintended shipping responses. Based on satellite data of ships and whales, we optimize the design of VSR to achieve a win–win outcome: saving whale while reducing the cost to the shipping industry.

Y. Gong,  J. Wang, J. Zhang,  Smart Speed, Sustainable Seas: Optimizing Speed Reduction Zones for Whale Conservation (work in progress)