Chagus Disease is a tropical parasitic disease that affects more than 10 million people in Latin America.

Donna Rizzo and John Hanley (University of Vermont) have developed a promising new computational tool to interpret complex data sets, advance our understanding of risk factors, and prevent future infestations and deaths.

Their work in Guatemala and El Salvador is supported by a $2.5M grant from the National Science Foundation. Learn more at: http://go.uvm.edu/nvo6c

Gund Institute climate experts break down COP21, the historic 2015 U.N. Climate Change Conference in Paris. Lini Wollenberg and Asim Zia explain what happened, what it means, and what comes next.

Lini Wollenberg is from UVM's Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources
 and CGAIR's Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) program. Asim Zia is from the Dept. of Community Development & Applied Economics.

Learn more about UVM's COP21 Team: http://go.uvm.edu/ykgc1

Carol Adair (University of Vermont) explores how Vermont farmers are responding to climate change by adopting new management practices.

Adair, an expert on climate change and adaptation, explains how emerging agricultural practices can mitigate climate change by increasing carbon storage and reducing GHG emissions, including those from methane.

More info: http://go.uvm.edu/5flnj

Whitney Lash-Marshall (SUNY) explores how to overcome the challenges of working across scholarly disciplines and research-practitioner partnerships.

Building on a case study of the SUNY university system, she outlines best practices for developing a culture of collaboration in conservation and other fields working to solve complex environmental problems.

Learn more: http://go.uvm.edu/y05co

Jody Prescott (University of Vermont)explores the unequal impacts of both war and climate change on women, particularly in developing countries.

Prescott is retired U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps officer who currently works as an attorney for U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement. He is an international security expert who studies gender, the environment, ethics and cyber warfare.

This presentation represents the official view of no U.S. government agency. Learn more: http://go.uvm.edu/y05co

Fangyuan Hua (Princeton University) explores challenges to forest and species biodiversity in China, and the historical and socio-economic factors driving these changes.

Hua, a behavioral ecologist, identifies land use planning policies and forest management practices to support biodiversity conservation.

Learn more at: http://go.uvm.edu/hy912

As global demand for commodity crops grows, so does pressure on tropical regions, which contain the world's largest remaining pools of arable land.

Marcia Macedo (Woods Hole Research Center) examines the tradeoffs between forest conservation and food production in the Amazon. Balancing these competing demands is critical for land, water, and food security in the region, and has important implications for climate change.

Learn more: http://go.uvm.edu/fbys4

Tom Macias (University of Vermont) examines differing levels of environmental concern and sustainable practices among racial and ethnic groups in the U.S.

Macias' sociology research explores the effect of consumer behavior on environmental outcomes, environmental justice, and social capital's impact on local agriculture and transportation.

Learn more: http://go.uvm.edu/j79kq

Molly Brown (University of Maryland) uses big data and satellite remote sensing to track how changing climates impact nutrition outcomes for the most vulnerable rural populations in the developing world.

Brown, previously a member of NASA's Biospheric Sciences Branch, works with USAID's Famine Early Warning System and is the lead author on a forthcoming USDA report entitled `Climate Change, Global Food Security and the US Food System.'

Learn more: http://go.uvm.edu/3kuge

Cuba expert Dan Whittle (Environmental Defense Fund) examines how open U.S.-Cuba relations creates unprecedented opportunity for development and research, but also extraordinary challenges and threats to Cuba's natural treasures.

Whittle leads EDF's work to conserve marine and coastal ecosystems in Cuba. He works with Cuban scientists, lawyers and resource managers to identify and implement collaborative strategies for fisheries management, coral reef conservation and sustainable development.

Learn more: http://go.uvm.edu/gqgk6