Professional Experience
Demographic Data Analyst, XCEL Engineering at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Dec 2024 – Present
Data Scientist, Wellness Equity Alliance (WEA), Atlanta, GA, Jun 2024 – Nov 2024
ORISE Fellow – GRASP, CDC – Geospatial Research, Analysis & Services Program, Oct 2021 – May 2024
ORISE Fellow – BSPB, CDC – Bacterial Special Pathogens Branch, Jun 2019 – Oct 2021
Drone Pilot, TraceAir Technologies, May 2023 – Sep 2024
Drone Pilot, Bees360, Inc. – Jan 2023 – June 2024
Owner/Drone Service Provider, Blue Nose Aerial Imaging of Atlanta, Aug 2022 – May 2025
Adjunct GIS Instructor, Mercer University, Atlanta, GA – May 2023 – Aug 2023
Lecturer – Medical Geography, University of Texas at San Antonio – Jan 2019 – May 2019
GIS & Cartography Roles:
- Cartographer, Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) – 2015
- GIS Technician, Ashtabula County, Ohio Auditor – 2014–2015
- Teaching & Research Assistant, Texas State University / The University of Akron, 2012–2019
Awards
John M. Goldsmid Award
Issued by The Australasian College of Tropical Medicine (ACTM) · January 2020
Best Paper Award - Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease
For "Mapping Disease Transmission Risk of Nipah Virus in South and Southeast Asia"
National Center for Farmworker Health Award in Geography
Issued by NCFH · April 2016
Education
Texas State University
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Geographic Information Science (GIS), 2015–2019
Dissertation: The Geography of Farmworker Health: A Mixed-Method Exploratory Analysis of Chronic Disease
The University of Akron
Master of Arts (MA), Geography, 2012–2014
PennWest Edinboro
Bachelor of Arts (BA), Geography, Minor: History, 2007–2012
Other Publications
Davlantes, E., Williams, S., Akinola, A., Asghar, H., Okeibunor, J., El-Sayed, N., Weldegebriel, G., Pallansch, M. A., Vertefeuille, J. F., Wassilak, S. G., & Deka, M. A. (2023). Notes from the field: Circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 emergences linked to novel oral poliovirus vaccine type 2 use—six African countries, 2021–2023. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 72.
Deka, M. A. (2017). Crimean–Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) geographic and environmental risk assessment in the Balkan and Anatolian Peninsulas. Papers in Applied Geography, 1(1), 1–26.
Deka, M. A. (2017). The geographic distribution of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever in Tajikistan and Central Asia. Papers in Applied Geography, 3(1), 68–84.
Deka, M. A. (2019). The geography of farmworker health: A mixed-method exploratory analysis of chronic disease (Doctoral dissertation). Texas State University–San Marcos.
Deka, M. A. (2020). Mapping the geographic distribution of tungiasis in sub-Saharan Africa. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, 5(3), 122.
Deka, M. A. (2020). The geography of farmworker health in Colorado: An examination of disease clusters and healthcare accessibility. Journal of Agromedicine, 1–12.
Deka, M. A. (2022). Predictive risk mapping of schistosomiasis in Madagascar using ecological niche modeling and precision mapping. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, 7(2), 15.
Deka, M. A., & Heukelbach, J. (2021). Distribution of tungiasis in Latin America: Identification of areas for potential disease transmission using an ecological niche model. The Lancet Regional Health – Americas, 100080.
Deka, M. A., Vieira, A. R., & Bower, W. A. (2022). Modelling the ecological niche of naturally occurring anthrax at global and circumpolar extents using an ensemble modelling framework. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, 69(5), e2563–e2577.
Deka, M. A., & Morshed, N. (2018). Mapping disease transmission risk of Nipah virus in South and Southeast Asia. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, 3, 57.
Deka, M. A., & Morshed, N. (2023). Geospatial analysis of tungiasis disease transmission risk in East Africa. In Braimah, J. A., Bisung, E., & Kuuire, V. (Eds.), Health Geography in Sub-Saharan Africa. Global Perspectives on Health Geography. Springer, Cham.
Deka, M. A., Marston, C. K., Garcia-Diaz, J., Drumgoole, R., & Traxler, R. M. (2022). Ecological niche model of Bacillus cereus group isolates containing a homologue of the pXO1 anthrax toxin genes infecting metalworkers in the United States. Pathogens, 11, 470.
Gee, J. E., Gulvik, C. A., Debora, S., Castelo-Branco, M., Sidrim, J. J., Deka, M. A., et al. (2021). Genomic diversity of Burkholderia pseudomallei – Ceara, Brazil. mSphere, 6(1).
Ndolo, V. A., Redding, D. W., Lekolool, I., Mwangangi, D. M., Odhiambo, D. O., Deka, M. A., & Wood, J. L. (2022). Drivers and potential distribution of anthrax occurrence and incidence at national and sub-county levels across Kenya from 2006 to 2020 using INLA. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 20083.
Ndolo, V. A., Redding, D., Deka, M. A., Salzer, J. S., Vieira, A. R., Onyuth, H., ... & Conlan, A. J. K. (2022). The potential distribution of Bacillus anthracis suitability across Uganda using INLA. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 19967.
Poplin, V., Smith, C. C., Caceres, D. H., Herkert, P. F., Jegede, O., Thompson, G. R., Bahr, N. C., & Deka, M. A. (2024). Geographical distribution of the Cryptococcus gattii species complex: A systematic review. The Lancet Microbe.