Bonny Specker

Bonny Specker received her Ph.D. in epidemiology and, for over 30 years, has worked in maternal and child health, publishing over 200 scientific papers and chapters. During this time, she conducted research and taught epidemiology as a Professor of Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and as an Endowed Professor at South Dakota State University.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, she has worked to educate the public on the basic principles of epidemiology. She retired early in 2021 and realized her passion for epidemiology began when she read the original accounts of early epidemiologists and how their investigations of various outbreaks taught important lessons about the spread of disease and society. It then occurred to her that historical fiction might be a vehicle for educating people about epidemiological methods and thinking.

Spot On: The 1846 Faroe Islands Measles Outbreak was her first work of fiction inspired by the notable Peter Panum. She recently published her second novel about the 1876 Lake Winnipeg smallpox outbreak, which not only describes the outbreak but also the underlying motivation for why people emigrated from Iceland and the colonization of Manitoba in the mid-19th century. These stories are brought alive by fictional characters set within a story grounded in fact. You can contact Bonny Specker at speckerwrites@gmail.com.