The Earth and Society Initiative in Disease Emergence and Ecosystem Health coordinates research, education, and outreach activities of a diverse assemblage of University of Illinois centers, programs, laboratories and individuals whose interests converge at the interface of emerging infectious diseases, anthropogenic environmental change, and biodiversity conservation.
Initiative research projects examine such diverse topics as how and why anthropogenic changes to tropical forests place people, livestock, and wildlife living in such ecosystems at increased risk of pathogen exchange; microbiological and environmental influences on coral black band disease, and cultural and ecological drivers of infectious disease emergence.
Initiative education and outreach programs strive to improve biodiversity and health through international training and capacity building in epidemiology. In addition, the initiative’s EnviroVet Program works to provide professional and graduate students with skills and expertise to identify and solve environmental problems that affect the health and well-being of people, domestic animals, wildlife and ecosystems.