Institute for Health in the Human Ecosystem

Building a more sustainable human ecosystem through research, teaching and outreach

Emerging and re-emerging diseases affecting plants, animals and humans are complex global challenges — especially in Idaho and the Northwest, where rural, diverse ecosystems face unique risks. The Institute for Health in the Human Ecosystem (IHHE) focuses on these local and global issues by training the next generation of leaders to develop sustainable, holistic solutions.

Our interdisciplinary model equips students and trainees with current knowledge and skills to discover and translate new insights into effective interventions. IHHE fosters collaboration and transdisciplinary research through networking, scholarly support and grant development for faculty, postdocs, graduate and undergraduate students.

IHHE offers:

Access to shared facilities and equipment
Participation in large collaborative grants
An annual research symposium with invited speakers and trainee presentations
Funding support for scientific meetings and conferences
Scholarships for graduate student research presentations
An international six-day “Biology of Vector-borne Diseases” course
Research internships for the undergraduate global disease ecology major

These efforts connect education, research and innovation across multiple scales to drive sustainable health solutions.

ACL2 insectary facility

IHHE supports a cutting-edge Arthropod Containment Level 2 (ACL2) insectary at University of Idaho, featuring:

Eight rooms, three with temperature-, light- and humidity-controlled walk-in environmental chambers
Two procedure rooms with incubators and bench space for manipulating infected arthropod vectors
Central area with additional workspace and deep sinks for research-associated activities
U of I approved housing for study animals for pathogen transmission and for use in arthropod maintenance

We welcome collaborative projects with investigators needing these spaces for their research. Please email insectary facility coordinator Shirley Luckhart for more information.

Education and training

Preparing future researchers and policymakers is central to IHHE’s mission. We partner with academic units and colleges within U of I to support an interdisciplinary undergraduate global disease ecology major and delivery of the center’s flagship six-day training course in the biology of vector-borne diseases.

Biology of Vector-borne Diseases course

This annual six-day intensive course provides accessible, condensed training and "knowledge networking" for advanced graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty and professionals on emerging vector-borne pathogens to highlight parallels and key distinctions. The course focuses on biology across plant, animal and human vector-borne diseases. It combines lectures, case studies and discussions led by international experts to foster holistic understanding and collaborative networks.

Course themes include:

Decision-making processes across hosts, vectors, researchers and practitioners
Building knowledge networks among diverse disease researchers
Effective communication within and across disciplines
Understanding dynamic ecosystems and disease interactions

The seventh annual Biology of Vector-borne Disease course is scheduled for Monday through Saturday, June 15-20, 2026.

Application process

Applications accepted starting Oct. 1
Dec. 31 — Deadline to be considered for scholarship
Feb. 17— Announcement of scholarship recipients
March 17 — Final application deadline

Preparing for the course and have questions? Email us to learn more.

Meet our people

Shirley Luckhart
Professor and co-director
sluckhart@uidaho.edu
208-885-1698

Edwin Lewis
Professor and co-director
eelewis@uidaho.edu
208-885-1697

Karin Cruzado
Postdoctoral fellow and program manager
karin@uidaho.edu
208-885-0937 (ext. 50937)

Faculty

Members

University of Idaho

Jacob Bledsoe, Department of Animal, Veterinary and Food Sciences, bledsoe@uidaho.edu
Allan Caplan, Department of Plant Sciences, acaplan@uidaho.edu
Steve Cook, Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Nematology, stephenc@uidaho.edu
Louise-Marie Dandurand, Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Nematology, lmd@uidaho.edu
Sanford Eigenbrode, Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Nematology, sanforde@uidaho.edu
Mary Engels, Department of Natural Resources and Society, engels@uidaho.edu
Paul Gessler, Department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences, paulg@uidaho.edu
Bruce Godfrey, Library, bgodfrey@uidaho.edu
Chris Hamilton, Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Nematology, hamiltonlab@uidaho.edu
Esteban Hernandez-Vargas, Department of Mathematics and Statistical Science, esteban@uidaho.edu
Jeffrey Hicke, Department of Earth and Spatial Sciences, jhicke@uidaho.edu
Tara Hudiburg, College of Natural Resources, thudiburg@uidaho.edu
Alex Karasev, Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Nematology, akarasev@uidaho.edu
Luc LeBlanc, Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Nematology, leblancl@uidaho.edu
Katherine Lee, Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, katherinelee@uidaho.edu
Laurel Lynch, Department of Soil and Water Systems, llynch@uidaho.edu
Marshall Ma, Department of Computer Science, max@uidaho.edu
Mark McGuire, Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station, mmcguire@uidaho.edu
Shelley McGuire, School of Family and Consumer Sciences, smcguire@uidaho.edu
Tanya Miura, Department of Biological Sciences, tmiura@uidaho.edu
Christine Parent, Department of Biological Engineering, ceparent@uidaho.edu
Jagdish Patel, Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences, jpatel@uidaho.edu
Barrie Robison, Department of Biological Sciences, brobison@uidaho.edu
Paul Rowley, Department of Biological Sciences, prowley@uidaho.edu
Brenda Schroeder, Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Nematology, bschroeder@uidaho.edu
Luke Sheneman, Northwest Knowledge Network, sheneman@uidaho.edu
Amy Skibiel, Department of Animal, Veterinary and Food Sciences, askibiel@uidaho.edu
Alistair Smith, Department of Earth and Spatial Sciences, alistair@uidaho.edu
Terry Soule, Department of Computer Sciences, tsoule@uidaho.edu
Jared Spackman, Department of Plant Sciences, jspackman@uidaho.edu
Michael Strickland, Department of Soil and Water Systems, mstrickland@uidaho.edu
Andreas E. Vasdekis, Department of Physics, andreasv@uidaho.edu
Kristopher V. Waynant, Department of Chemistry, kwaynant@uidaho.edu
Erik Wenninger, Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Nematology, erikw@uidaho.edu
Frank Wihelm, Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences, fwilhelm@uidaho.edu
James Woodhall, Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Nematology, jwoodhall@uidaho.edu
Sarah Wu, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, xwu@uidaho.edu

Washington State University

Kelly Brayton, Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, kbrayton@wsu.edu
Jesse Brunner, School of Biological Sciences, jesse.brunner@wsu.edu
Dave Crowder, Department of Entomology, dcrowder@wsu.edu
Pilar Fernandez, Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, pilar.fernandez@wsu.edu
Alan Goodman, School of Molecular Biosciences, alan.goodman@wsu.edu
Scott Harper, Clean Plant Center Northwest, scott.harper@wsu.edu
Tom Kawula, Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, tom.kawula@wsu.edu
Eric Lofgren, Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, eric.lofgren@wsu.edu
Jeb Owen, Department of Entomology, jowen@wsu.edu
Hanu Pappu, Department of Plant Pathology, hrp@wsu.edu
Dana Shaw, Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, dana.shaw@wsu.edu
Kiwamu Tanaka, Department of Plant Pathology, kiwamu.tanaka@wsu.edu
Viveka Vadyvaloo, Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, vvadyvaloo@wsu.edu

USDA

Susan Noh, USDA-Animal Disease Research Unit, Susan.Noh@ars.usda.gov
Glen Scoles, USDA-Animal Disease Research Unit, Glen.Scoles@ars.usda.gov
Carlos Suarez, USDA-Animal Disease Research Unit, Carlos.Suarez@ars.usda.gov
Massaro Ueti, USDA-Animal Disease Research Unit, Massaro.Ueti@ars.usda.gov

Affiliates

Rodrigo Almeida, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA, rodrigoalmeida@berkeley.edu
Matthew Baylis, Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom, matthew.baylis@liverpool.ac.uk
Bill Black, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, William.Black@colostate.edu
Marek Borowiec, Department of Agricultural Biology, Colorado State University, CO, marek.borowiec@colostate.edu
Corey Campbell, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Plant Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, Corey.Campbell@colostate.edu
Adela Oliva Chavez, Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, TX, aolivachavez@tamu.edu
Christopher Cleveland, Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, University of Georgia, GA, ccleve@uga.edu
Gitta Coaker, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, glcoaker@ucdavis.edu
Nancy DuTeau, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Plant Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, nancy.duteau@gmail.com
Janet Foley, Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, jefoley@ucdavis.edu
Bob Gilbertson, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, rlgilbertson@ucdavis.edu
Kathy Hanley, Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, khanley@nmsu.edu
Amanda Hodson, Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, akhodson@ucdavis.edu
Andy Jensen, Tri-state research director, Washington Potatoes, ajensen@potatoes.com
Jan Kreuze, Crop and Systems Science Division, International Potato Center (CIP), j.kreuze@cgiar.org
Anthony Mabele, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Kenya, mabeleanthony@gmail.com
Christie Mayo, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, christie.mayo@colostate.edu
Neil McRoberts, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, nmcroberts@ucdavis.edu
Raul Medina, Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, rfmedina@tamu.edu
Edward Okoth Abworo, African swine fever coordinator and veterinarian, International Livestock Research Institute, E.Okoth@cgiar.org
Chris Paddock, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, cdp9@cdc.gov
David Perera, Institute of Health and Community Medicine, Universitii Malaysia Sarawak, dperera@unimas.my
Jane Polston, Department of Plant Pathology, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) and Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), University of Florida, jep@ufl.edu
Ann Powers, Division of Vector-Borne Diseases (DVBD), U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, CO, APowers@cdc.gov
Arash Rashed, The Southern Piedmont Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Virginia Tech University, arashr@vt.edu
Michael Riehle, Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, mriehle@ag.arizona.edu
Jeff Riffell, Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, jriffell@uw.edu
Michael Robert, Department of Mathematics, Virginia Tech University, VA, michaelrobert@vt.edu
Marilyn Roossinck, Departments of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology, and Biology; Center for Infectious Diseases Dynamics, Huck Institute of Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, mjr25@psu.edu
Mike Strand, Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, mrstrand@uga.edu
Matt Thomas, Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, FL, matthewthomas1@ufl.edu
Jon Towner, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, jit8@cdc.gov
Diane Ullman, Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, deullman@ucdavis.edu

Membership and partners

Individual membership is open to biologists, social scientists, policy makers, engineers, physical scientists, mathematicians, epidemiologists, modelers and experts in related areas who are interested in the parallels, challenges and opportunities for intervention across plant, animal and human diseases at any scale of study. Please email us to learn about IHHE individual membership benefits and opportunities to contribute to our mission.

Our partners

Funding for undergraduate research

The USDA-funded Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduate (REEU) program supports U of I undergraduates in research connecting plant, animal and human health in managed ecosystems. Students gain mentorship, leadership and hands-on experience.

REEU Traineeship Awards

Open to full-time undergraduate students in any major who have completed at least 16 STEM credit hours and their first year of major coursework. Students receive a $7,000 stipend plus research support for a summer internship. Awardees are expected to present at the IHHE Research Symposium in April.

REEU Mini Grants

U of I undergrads in any major who have completed 16 STEM credits and their first-year major coursework are eligible. Awards consist of $500 or $1,000 to support research in plant, animal or human health in managed ecosystems with mentorship from faculty or industry.

Contact Edwin Lewis (eelewis@uidaho.edu), Shirley Luckhart (sluckhart@uidaho.edu) or Glen Stevens (glens@uidaho.edu) for more information on these funding opportunities.