About
The Institute for Heath in the Human Ecosystem (IHHE) was established in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Idaho in 2017. The IHHE creates a new model of innovative, collaborative and transdisciplinary research, engagement and transformative education in plant, animal and human diseases to train the next generation of skilled leaders and to improve the lives of people in Idaho, the northwest and around the world. In doing so, the IHHE supports the University of Idaho to shape the future through innovative thinking, facilitation of top-tier research, transformative training and mentoring, and support of innovative education.
We bring together experts and trainees from relevant fields of plant, animal and human diseases to share knowledge, tools and strategies. Through these efforts, we seek to identify core processes to accelerate novel discoveries and innovative and sustainable interventions for coordinated improvements in plant, animal and human health. In principle, the control of plant diseases has much in common with control of diseases that impact human and animal health, including shared core process and key ecosystem drivers. In this context, we aim to identify tools and research perspectives from agriculture and from human and animal health that can be leveraged for sustainable health in the human ecosystem.
The IHHE establishes a working model — through symposia, courses, funded research and support for undergraduate and graduate education — that shows how communication and collaboration among researchers across plant, animal and human diseases can be achieved and applied successfully. Sustainable solutions are those that address common problems through coordination and synthesis.
Individual Memberships
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.
Partners
- California Safe Soils, LLC
- CONNECTED Community Network for African Vector-borne Plant Viruses
- Idaho IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE)
- Idaho STEM Action Center
- National Association of Vector-borne Disease Control Officials
- National Institutes of Health Rocky Mountain Laboratories
- Northwest Mosquito and Vector Control Association
- Terragraphics International Foundation (TIFO)
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal Disease Research Unit
- WWAMI Regional Medical Program and Rural Health Research Center
- University of Idaho's chapter of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science