Homepage - EcoHealth Alliance

VIEW ALL PROGRAMS

ecohealthalliance

Developing science-based solutions to prevent pandemics & promote conservation.

🌏️🐒🌴 Southeast Asia is one of the world

🌏️🐒🌴 Southeast Asia is one of the world’s highest-risk hotspots for emerging infectious diseases. This region is home to the origin of the SARS pandemic, repeated outbreaks of novel influenza strains, and the spillover of dangerous pathogens like Nipah virus. ⁠
⁠
These phenomena are driven by a high diversity of wildlife and rapid expansion of human activities – bringing human and wildlife populations closer and closer, making zoonotic spillover more and more likely. Community-level behavioral interventions, in tandem with targeted surveillance and detection of illness in at-risk human populations, are key public health interventions that can disrupt disease emergence. Learn more about this work and watch the full clip at the link below, and head to our website to learn more about our pandemic prevention efforts in Southeast Asia. ⁠

🌏️🌍️🌎️ Happy #WorldEnvironmentDay f

🌏️🌍️🌎️ Happy #WorldEnvironmentDay from EcoHealth Alliance! This year's theme is all about ecological restoration – cleaning our water and regrowing our forests. Read up on the Conservation & Health team's research and work on forest restoration at the link in our bio.

In partnership with Georgetown University's "Quell

In partnership with Georgetown University's "Quelle Fièvre" project, funded by DTRA, EcoHealth Alliance is proud to support fieldwork in Guinea. Our team focuses on advancing biosafety standards and ensuring animal welfare while conducting disease surveillance to detect the cause of fevers within human communities.

With the help of field biosafety teams, EHA has also compiled the first-ever comprehensive field biosafety manual. This resource provides guidance on how to interact safely with wildlife and livestock in the absence of a field setting, no matter what species or location. This project represents the trailblazing next step in field biosafety standards, ensuring that they are not just theoretical guidelines, but practical tools that contribute to global health security and enhance the safety of researchers looking to do the same.

🇧🇷🌴🦥 Brazil’s grasslands, rivers, an

🇧🇷🌴🦥 Brazil’s grasslands, rivers, and forests are home to an astonishing number of species. The Brazilian Atlantic Forest, south and east of the Amazon, is a veritable treasure trove of biodiversity. In this region alone, there are more than 1,000 species of birds – 200 of them found nowhere else on Earth. The incredible biodiversity and tens of thousands of species that call this region home are all essential for human livelihoods. The Atlantic Forest biome also provides ecosystem services such as clean water, raw materials, food, crop pollination, and disease regulation to 70% of the Brazilian population. ⁠
⁠
The EcoHealth Alliance Conservation & Health team is now there investigating whether forest restoration efforts influence the risk of zoonotic spillover. Their work is critical in understanding the potential of forest restoration to recover functional biodiversity, regulate disease, and other ecosystem services. In this video, they’ll tell you why this #OneHealth work is crucial for the safety and security of humans, animals, and the environment. Watch the full clip at the link in our bio!⁠

🌴🐜🐘 Happy International Day of Biological

🌴🐜🐘 Happy International Day of Biological Diversity from EcoHealth Alliance! This year’s theme is “Be part of the Plan” – and EHA scientists are indeed playing their part.

Last week, Dr. Catherine Machalaba, Dr. Paula Prist, and Robin Breen were in Nairobi at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters to attend the UN Biodiversity Convention meeting. This isn’t the first time EHA has been a part of global actions on biodiversity – our scientists were also at the 2022 UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal, advocating for One Health principles to be adopted in the finalized Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (second and third pics). The EcoHealth Alliance team is proud to collaborate with the @IUCN_congress, @UNEP, and @worldanimalhealth to center #OneHealth and be #PartOfThePlan to protect and conserve our planet’s incredible biodiversity!

Happy #InternationalDayofPlantHealth from EcoHealt

Happy #InternationalDayofPlantHealth from EcoHealth Alliance! ⁠
⁠
A healthy planet depends on healthy plants, which provide a list of ecosystem services too long to count. We depend on them for the air we breathe and the food we eat. They provide shelter, nourishment, improved air quality, cleaner water, and more – but like all living things, plants are threatened by climate change and habitat loss. ⁠
⁠
EcoHealth Alliance scientists around the world are working to protect ecosystems and the plants that call them home, and recover what has already been lost. In Brazil, our scientists have shown that intact forests have direct positive health effects on human populations, preventing negative health impacts from wildfires. We are now investigating the ecological impacts of forest restoration – hoping to demonstrate that, as the forest recovers after deforestation, disease risk decreases, and the health of humans, animals, and the ecosystem are more secure. The #OneHealth approach in action!⁠
⁠
You can read more about EcoHealth Alliance's work in Brazil at the link below/in our bio. ⁠
⁠
📸: Climbing the yellow meranti tree (Shorea faguetiana), Borneo, Dr. Nichar Gregory

Today is #WorldMigratoryBirdDay! ⁠ ⁠ Birds pla

Today is #WorldMigratoryBirdDay! ⁠
⁠
Birds play a key role in the health of ecosystems and humans (which are really one and the same, as One Health reminds us). Our winged relatives help regulate disease vectors like insects, preventing the spread of dangerous diseases. They are also key pollinators for many plant species, helping support wildflowers and human agriculture. ⁠
⁠
Birds, like many animals, can also be vectors for disease themselves, which is a reminder to always take care when interacting with them and other wildlife. You can read more about how to live safely with wildlife at the link in our bio!⁠
⁠
📸: Kingfisher, M. Valitutto

🔬🌇🏛️ Last month, Women in Science at Ec

🔬🌇🏛️ Last month, Women in Science at EcoHealth Alliance (WiSE) took a field trip just up the road from our Manhattan offices to the American Museum of Natural History! At the new Gilder Center, we had a tour from museum staff, and got to visit the new Insectarium and Butterfly Vivarium. WiSE was able to meet up with @AMNH's Women in Natural Sciences (WINS) group afterwards – a great chance to build community with our peer organizations in New York City.

WiSE is a group committed to promoting the advancement of women and other under-represented gender identities in the field of science. WiSE aims to foster a positive, equitable environment, empowering female staff members through networking events, mentorship, and professional development opportunities.

🌴📰🌍️ The latest newsletter for #Conserv

🌴📰🌍️ The latest newsletter for #ConservationWorks is hot off the presses! ⁠
⁠
Check out the link in our bio to #subscribe and read more about our community-focused work in Liberia. Conservation Works protects threatened and endangered species, strengthens the management of protected areas, supports communities in becoming less reliant on forest resources through alternative livelihood opportunities, and promotes strong partnerships with local communities, the Liberian government, the private sector, and local, regional, and international conservation stakeholders. ⁠
⁠
Conservation Works is implemented in partnership with @liberiachimprescueprotection, @faunafloraint, @solimarint, #PADEV, and with support from @USAID and @USAIDLiberia.⁠

🌃🥂🌳#FlashbackFriday to last week in New Y

🌃🥂🌳#FlashbackFriday to last week in New York City, at the 2024 EcoHealth Alliance Benefit!

We gather with our community annually to celebrate the achievements of our dedicated scientists and staff and reaffirm our commitment to a world without pandemics. This year was no different, and it was a full house, with more than 200 new and old faces filling the room. Thank you to all of our supporters for your shared vision of a #OneHealth future where human, animal, and environmental health are all protected. Check out some highlights from the event!

If you weren’t able to make it this year, we hope to see you next spring in Manhattan to celebrate continued success in our #OneHealth mission.

🌍️🦇🌏️ Happy #BatAppreciationDay from

🌍️🦇🌏️ Happy #BatAppreciationDay from EcoHealth Alliance! These fascinating, mysterious, and important animals are found worldwide except for Arctic and Antarctic regions. They live everywhere people do, and some places we don’t. Pictured here is a horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus spp.), found in tropical regions in Africa, Oceania, Asia, and Europe. ⁠
⁠
Bats provide vital ecosystem services such as pollination and insect population control, supporting human agriculture and public health, respectively. Bat pollination (aka chiropterophily) services crops like mango, guava, and agave, and hundreds more. ⁠
⁠
Over the last decade, scientists have started to see that bats also have a unique way of handling viral infection compared to other mammals, including humans. There’s growing evidence that they don’t get sick when infected with viruses that can cause serious illness in people. Until now, there have been very few opportunities to study bat immune systems. A new project will, for the first time, allow scientists from a wide range of medical fields to study bat immunology and other aspects of their biology that could lead to breakthroughs in human and animal health. Check out the link in our bio for more details on this vital and groundbreaking research!⁠
⁠
Despite the importance of these fascinating animals, climate change, the illegal wildlife trade, and land use change all put pressure on wild populations. EcoHealth Alliance remains committed in its global portfolio of projects to address these key conservation threats and work towards a #OneHealth future free of pandemics.

🌳🌳🌳 “The most important thing is to be

🌳🌳🌳 “The most important thing is to be engaged—to make climate, and stewardship of our planet, central in the everyday conversations.”⁠
⁠
Dr. Michael Mann is the Presidential Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania, and one of the honorees at the 2024 EcoHealth Alliance Benefit. He also holds a secondary appointment in the Annenberg School for Communication, and serves as director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media (PCSSM).⁠
⁠
Among Dr. Mann’s recent honors and awards, in 2023 the American Humanist Association named him Humanist of the Year. In 2022, the American Physical Society gave him the Leo Szilard Lectureship Award, for “outstanding accomplishments by physicists in promoting the use of physics for the benefit of society.” In 2020, Dr. Mann was elected as a member of the Washington, DC-based National Academy of Sciences, an organization of the country’s leading researchers, and he also received the World Sustainability Award from the MDPI Sustainability Foundation. The previous year, he received the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, an annual award administered by the University of Southern California.⁠
⁠
Join us on April 18 to honor Dr. Mann at this celebration of science and the importance of forests – you can find ways to support this event at the link in our bio!

🌳🔬🌴 “Old forests are very important for

🌳🔬🌴 “Old forests are very important for helping to control climate change. Their benefits stem not just from the above-ground parts we can see...There is so much we still don’t know.” ⁠
⁠
Dr. Benjamin Strauss, Chief Scientist at @climatecentral, is one of the #OneHealth Champions being honored at this year's 2024 EcoHealth Alliance Benefit. Dr. Strauss has authored numerous papers and reports on the effects of rising sea levels, and is also the architect of Surging Seas, Climate Central's online suite of maps, tools and visualizations. The latter has earned more than 100 million page views, and has generated more than 10,000 citations in U.S. and international publications, such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, China Daily, and The Hindu, and in news services like the Associated Press, Reuters, and Bloomberg. He has also appeared as an expert on national network news, syndicated radio, and in televised documentaries. ⁠
⁠
Join us on April 18 to honor Dr. Strauss at this celebration of science and the importance of forests – tickets are available at the link in our bio!

🌴🌶️🐝 The latest #ConservationWorks news

🌴🌶️🐝 The latest #ConservationWorks newsletter is out! Learn how we’re working with communities living in and around protected and proposed protected areas to adopt more sustainable livelihood practices. Check out the link in our bio to subscribe and read more! ⁠
⁠
Conservation Works is implemented in partnership with @liberiachimprescueprotection, @faunafloraint, @solimarint, #PADEV, and with support from @USAID and @USAIDLiberia.⁠
⁠
📸: The Vantage Group

🐆🌚🌴 Happy #FieldWorkFriday! ⁠ ⁠ Our r

🐆🌚🌴 Happy #FieldWorkFriday! ⁠
⁠
Our researchers in Brazil photographed this ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) out for its nightly hunt on one of their camera traps. ⁠
⁠
Like many species of wild cats, the ocelot is nocturnal, hunting its prey (small animals like birds, lizards, and rodents) under cover of darkness. Historically, the ocelot ranged from the present-day United States all the way to Argentina, but human encroachment on its habitat has nearly extirpated the species from the US. It shares much of its range with larger predators, like the mountain lion (Puma concolor) and jaguar (Panthera onca). The ocelot provides a key ecosystem service by controlling the populations of rodents that can spread disease – reducing the threat of zoonotic spillover. But ocelots, like their larger relatives, are threatened by habitat loss and forest fragmentation. ⁠
⁠
EcoHealth Alliance is working to understand the risks of deforestation and how we can use forest restoration as an effective tool to protect ocelots and other species while also reducing disease risk – read more at the link in our bio!

🌲🌳🌴 Happy International Day of Forests fr

🌲🌳🌴 Happy International Day of Forests from EcoHealth Alliance!

Intact forests are one of humanity’s most effective tools in combating climate change and are key to preventing future pandemics. When natural forests are degraded, the animals that called that land home are forced into areas where they have greater contact with humans, thereby increasing the risk of disease spread – and potential pandemics. Research done by EcoHealth Alliance scientists has definitively shown that reducing deforestation is both cost-effective and saves lives. Our conservation projects work to build capacity and support our country partners worldwide. These partnerships have allowed us to grow our understanding of other health impacts of deforestation, such as rates of increased respiratory diseases due to slash-and-burn practices.

While the health impacts of deforestation are well documented, we are now beginning to also understand the specific health impacts of forest restoration. Restoring forest ecosystems involves returning trees to former forest land and improving the condition of degraded forests. As well as planting native tree species, it can include conserving wild plants and animals and protecting the soils and water sources that are part of the forest ecosystem. In existing forests, native species can be planted to regenerate the tree cover. In some cases, forest trees will re-grow naturally. We hope to show that as restored forests mature, the risks introduced by deforestation fade away.

#ForestDay #ForestDay2024

🌳🐝🌴 Discover the #ConservationWorks proje

🌳🐝🌴 Discover the #ConservationWorks project's livelihood and income-generating activities, including climate-smart agriculture, sustainable beekeeping, and village savings and loan associations. In partnership with @liberiachimprescueprotection, @faunafloraint, @solimarint, #PADEV, and with support from @USAID and @USAIDLiberia, we’re working with communities living in and around protected and proposed protected areas in Liberia to adopt more sustainable practices to enhance biodiversity conservation, protected area management, and economic growth. ⁠
⁠
Read more at the link in our bio!

🗽🥂🌳 Join EcoHealth Alliance next month in

🗽🥂🌳 Join EcoHealth Alliance next month in NYC at our Annual Benefit!⁠
⁠
This year's event, "Green Planet, One Health", is dedicated to the amazing work being done by EcoHealth Alliance scientists to protect our planet's forests – nature's shield against disease. We will hear from an exciting group of honorees working to protect our environment from threats like #climatechange and #deforestation, all while celebrating the strides made in realizing our #OneHealth mission. ⁠
⁠
Tickets and sponsorships are available for purchase at the link in our bio, and stay tuned for more details on our honorees as we get closer to the event. We hope you can come join us on April 18th!

🤝🐒📉 On Thursday, March 21st, join EcoHeal

🤝🐒📉 On Thursday, March 21st, join EcoHealth Alliance for an interactive discussion on integrating behavioral science with zoonotic disease risk management!⁠
⁠
Scientists from EcoHealth Alliance and an international coalition of partners will discuss ways to bridge the gap between theory and practice in conservation and zoonotic disease research. The workshop will explore practical ways to integrate behavioral science, with insights from our projects on the cutting edge of #OneHealth research. Come and engage in lively discussions on human behavioral strategies to reduce zoonotic disease risk – RSVP now and let's make a difference together.⁠
⁠
You can find more details on this event and how to join at the link in our bio.

🚺🌍🌎🌏 Happy #InternationalWomensDay fro

🚺🌍🌎🌏 Happy #InternationalWomensDay from EcoHealth Alliance!

We are fortunate to work with accomplished, brilliant #womeninSTEM around the world. Today and every day, we remain committed to the fact that better science begins with better representation, and affirm the importance of gender diversity in research.

#iwd2024

Load More Follow on Instagram

EcoHealth Alliance MISSION

EcoHealth Alliance develops science-based solutions to prevent pandemics and promote conservation.

One Health in the South Caucasus

An assessment of One Health operations and capacities in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia EcoHealth…
New Research Suggests Forest Restoration Can Decrease Zoonotic Spillover Risk, But Caution is Needed

JUNE 28, 2023 – Zoonotic diseases are transmitted from animals to humans, and more…
EcoHealth Alliance Receives NIH Renewal Grant for Collaborative Research to Understand the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Spillover Emergence

May 8 2023 – Zoonotic coronaviruses (CoVs) represent a significant threat to global health,…