2025 Award
The Impact of Agricultural Intensification on Human and Environmental Health in the Amazon
Principal Investigator: Tara Mittelberg, Graduate Student
This research investigates the expansion of cattle feedlots in the Brazilian Amazon, and assesses the environmental, economic, and health impacts of agricultural intensification. Cattle production is the primary driver of deforestation in the region, with more than 70% of cleared forest converted to pasture. As pastureland becomes degraded, there is increasing pressure to improve productivity, leading to the rise of feedlot systems that use less land and time per animal. While feedlots offer potential environmental and economic benefits, their indirect effects on deforestation, surrounding ecosystems, and public health remain underexplored. My dissertation will quantify the drivers of feedlot adoption, their impact on nearby land use, and their potential health consequences, particularly on incidence of respiratory and zoonotic disease. I will use funding from the Henry Anderson III Graduate Award to fund six weeks of critical fieldwork in the Amazon, which will entail farm visits and interviews with ranchers, experts, and stakeholders in conservation and agribusiness. The research will contribute to a broader understanding of agricultural intensification through the One Health framework, addressing the intersection of environmental degradation, animal management, and human health. This project provides critical insights for policymakers and farmers, aiming to balance productivity with sustainability in the global beef supply chain.
2024 Award
A One Health approach to Characterize Air Pollution, Aerobiome, and Acute Respiratory Illness in Medellín, Colombia
Principal Investigator: Jonathan Bryan, Research Specialist, Dr. Jorge Osorio Laboratory, Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin – Madison
Worldwide, the deaths of approximately 7 million people were associated with air pollution based on the World Health Organization (World Health Organization, 2018). A report by the Colombian National Health Observatory attributed 15,681 deaths to poor air quality (National Health Observatory, 2018). These statistics influenced air pollution monitoring and programs for surveillance of respiratory health concerns. One shortcoming of these surveillance systems is a primary emphasis on monitoring chemical contaminants but largely neglecting biological contaminants. The One Health concept involves a transdisciplinary effort to address issues at the intersection of human, environmental, and animal health. Using this approach, we will analyze the correlation between air quality, climate change, and bioaerosol presence of pathogens causing acute respiratory illness in Medellín Metropolitan Area, conducted in collaboration with GHI’s One Health Center – Colombia. By monitoring the prevalence of respiratory pathogens in aerosols, we better understand airborne transmission for assessing the effectiveness of preventive measures like vaccines and respiratory hygiene practices. Furthermore, exploring the relationship between air quality and climate change as risk factors for respiratory pathogen transmission can guide policymakers to develop interventions to improve air quality, mitigate climate change impacts, and reduce the burden of respiratory diseases on vulnerable populations.
2023 Award
Zoonosis as multispecies transgressions: Viruses & foodways amongst Indigenous communities
Principal Investigator: Aida Arosoaie, B.A., M.Sc., M.A., doctoral student, Department of Anthropology
In Malaysia, the resettlement of Orang Asli (Indigenous) communities from the forest to permanent villages has been correlated with an increase in the possibility for zoonotic spillovers (Mahmud et al 2022). OA communities, mostly living in makeshift villages with few facilities, face a radical change of lifestyle, spanning from foodways to economic activities and hygiene practices, in the context of extractive activities such as deforestation and the expansion of monocrop plantations. Many of these communities, who historically have depended on the forest for food, shelter, and medicines, continue practice of a semi–nomadic lifestyle for the purpose of game hunting, wood sourcing and herb foraging. Contemporary zoonotic framework of planetary health situate the responsibility for zoonotic spillovers on the sustained semi–nomadic lifestyle, rather that the precarious social and economic positions of these communities (Baer 1999; Rashid et al 2018; Alasil and Abdullah 2019; Munajat et al 2021). To this end, governmental and non–governmental actors, along with research from universities across Malaysia, are concentrating their efforts on zoonosis prevention and biosafety by changing the dietary habits and local hygiene practices of Orang Asli communities to manage “spillover” risks.
Based on mixed methods including participant observation, interviews, and archival research, I will undertake nine months of research in peninsular Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur and Belum Forest. During my stay in Kauala Lumpur I will meet government and non–government actors to understand the larger political background of zoonosis–related policy–making and whether these reflect racialized perspectives to Indigenous communities in Malaysia. During my stay in Kuala Lumpur, I will also visit the National Archives of Malaysia and the Special Collections at the Universiti Putra Malaysia, formerly the Serdang Experiment Stations, to ground contemporary socio–political and economic perspectives to public health and zoonosis in a historical background. I will also reside in Belum Forest with Jahai communities to understand how deforestation and relocation impact Jahai communities’ relation with nonhuman actors around them, including, but not limited to, dogs, bats, boars, wildlife such as elephants and tigers, and game animals, as well as their ancestral foodways. Also, I am interested to understand what aspects of Orang Asli lifestyle and foodways become precarious not only in the aftermath of relocation, but also in the aftermath of their encounters with actors aiming instill health–related and hygiene behavior amongst Orang Asli.
2022 Award
Climate justice perspectives and strategies implemented by public health nurses and community partners
Jessica LeClair, M.S., MPH, doctoral student, School of Nursing; Principal Investigator: Susan Zahner, School of Nursing
Climate change is the most serious global health threat of the 21st century and causes a range of disparate and inequitable health impacts across different populations. Nursing’s international and national organizations recognize the importance of addressing climate change and health. Nurses have put forth calls to action for climate justice, however evidence of effective nursing strategies that advance climate justice is sparse. Public health nurses (PHNs) practice in communities that experience health inequities, are the most trusted health profession, and could therefore be effective facilitators of climate justice information and interventions to affected communities. Evidence about climate justice strategies implemented by PHNs in partnership with communities is needed. This proposed study will lay the foundation for a program of research that identifies and facilitates effective public health practices that advance climate justice and population health. The purpose of this study is to begin to examine effective public health practices that advance climate justice and population health by describing how PHNs and their community partners conceptualize climate justice, and how their visions and experiences can inform the partnership strategies and processes they utilize to advance climate justice.
Key personnel: Linda Oakley, School of Nursing; Samuel Dennis, Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture
2021 Award
Health, climate and agriculture: A case study of Brazil’s Amazon and Cerrado biomes
Principal Investigator: Kaitlyn Sims, doctoral candidate, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics
Agricultural production in the Brazilian Cerrado and Amazon has skyrocketed, launching Brazil as the world’s leading soybean producer and beef exporter. The environmental impacts of this agricultural revolution are well documented, but here we will explore the health impacts of land-use and climate change. We propose to develop a database of health outcomes to combine with existing agricultural data and leverage it to assess the impacts of the adoption of soy, a high-input crop, on cancer mortality rates. This database can further be used to explore respiratory health, interpersonal violence, and child mortality driven by agriculture, deforestation, and climate shocks.
2020 Award
Effects of racial disparities on mental health in low-resource populations
Principal Investigator: Hannah Olson-Williams, doctoral candidate, epidemiology, SMPH
Similarities between the Sotho ethnic group in South Africa and the Basotho population of Lesotho provide a natural experiment to study the direct impact of racial disparities on mental health. In addition to cultural, linguistic, and ethnic similarities in Basotho and South African Sotho, wealth inequality is a serious problem in both South Africa and Lesotho. Whereas inequality in Lesotho occurs within a single cultural group, inequality in South Africa is stratified across many different racial and ethnic groups.
We will study mental health in Basotho and South African Sotho adults in two urban centers. Our cases are South African Sotho living in Bloemfontein, South Africa who experience racial inequality in a post-apartheid country. Our controls are Basotho living in Maseru, Lesotho who do not experience racial inequality in a racially homogeneous country.
Our goal is to understand whether racial disparities could manifest as different mental health outcomes in countries with extreme wealth inequality. We aim to provide a precise understanding of the specific effects of racial inequality on mental health outcomes. Additionally, since mental health is currently understudied and under treated in Lesotho and South Africa, this research may help justify future improvements in mental health care accessibility for Basotho and South African Sotho.
2019 Award
Health outcomes of diarrheal disease in water-limited conditions: Cape Town, South Africa’s drought as a case study
Principal Investigator: Nicholas Spoerk, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine and Public Health
Beginning in 2015, Cape Town, South Africa experienced several consecutive rainy seasons with precipitation insufficient to refill the reservoirs that supply the city with water. In 2017, declining water supplies prompted city officials to impose water usage restrictions on all residents. Only in the last year have reservoir levels begun to stabilize, and the restrictions today are only eased, not fully rescinded. At the same time, prior literature has pointed to recent drought as a risk factor for increased infectious disease transmission, especially in populations with concurrent social disadvantages. However, no available research to date has attempted to investigate either the changes in infectious disease health outcomes in relation to Cape Town’s recent water crisis, nor the way modifiable social factors influence these outcomes.
We propose a multifaceted approach to study these interactions. One component will consist of a retrospective healthcare records review to quantify the epidemiology and course of these diseases in relation to the drought. Simultaneously, we will survey the local population regarding components of their social environment and their adaptations to water stress. Taken together, we hope these findings will allow us to better describe the relationship between water stress and health outcomes.
Key personnel: Laurel Legenza, Sonderegger Research Center, School of Pharmacy; Renier Coetzee, University of Western Cape, South Africa
2018 Award
MAHERY Vaccine Campaign
Laurel Myers, DVM/MPH candidate, School of Medicine and Public Health and School of Veterinary Medicine
In Madagascar, many households rely on bushmeat as their primary means of accessing animal source foods. Previous research indicates that decreased bushmeat consumption leads to increased incidence of anemia. However, reliance on bushmeat both increases the potential for zoonotic disease transmission and threatens the nation’s delicate ecosystems. Upon examination of regional taboos and taste preferences, chicken was identified as a possible alternative meat source. Yet Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV), an avian respiratory disease with high morbidity and mortality rates, is endemic to the island, making it difficult to rear poultry. In response, the Madagascar Health and Environmental Research (MAHERY) program is conducting a vaccine campaign to decrease the incidence of NDV and increase poultry production. It is our hope that increased access to a reliable protein source will both decrease bushmeat consumption by Malagasy citizens and decrease nutritional deficiencies. Harnessing an existing model that projects the impacts of the vaccine on chicken survivorship, we will first conduct a systematic review of existing literature from various countries that examine the way NDV has affected demographics, survivorship, and consumption of chickens and eggs. We will then use this information to improve the existing impact model and to better inform future intervention options.