<p>
	In that context, he has worked at field study sites from Montana to Chihuahua, and in Inner Mongolia and the Tibetan Plateau. &nbsp;Research has involved students at various universities (in CA, CO, MI, MO, TX, WY, France, and China). Taxa of interest have been carnivores (e.g., black-footed ferrets, Siberian polecats, weasels, foxes), rodents, arthropods (fleas, ticks), and bacteria (Yersinia pestis). His present research emphasis is on ecology of plague, including its hosts and vectors, concentrating on maintenance of plague and its chronic effects on wildlife during inter-epizootic periods.</p>
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	Dean has received special recognition for his work on the Black-footed Ferret Recovery Implementation Team and has received Conservationist of the Year from the Denver Zoological Foundation, Science Excellence Award of the Year from USGS, and the Aldo Leopold Award from the American Society of Mammalogists.</p>
