MOSCOW, Idaho — Ed Lewis and Shirley Luckhart help innovations progress as part of a whole picture instead of only an isolated factor.

The husband-and-wife team directs the University of Idaho Institute for Health in the Human Ecosystem, which they founded in 2017.

“The idea was to bring together research, teaching and outreach interests that explore the intersections among plant, animal and human health from the sub-cellular scale up to the ecosystem scale,” Luckhart said.

She said researchers too often do their own work without interacting with each other enough, and do not effectively leverage the many biological parallels and other important drivers of plant, animal and human health.

“We need to break down the intellectual silos in plant, animal and human health,” Luckhart said.

Researchers “can’t just keep going into these complex ecosystems working on one small and narrow focus, not understanding the broader impacts of any intervention, and expect the solution will be sustainable,” she said.

More intentional, cross-discipline communication will lead to better solutions to ecosystem problems ranging from drought and invasive plants to diseases such as malaria, which Luckhart has studied for 27 years.

For example, invasive plants are “a huge problem for plant health, animal health and human health,” she said, adding that they are best researched collaboratively because they harbor crop-damaging pathogens, provide a host for insect pests, may poison livestock and often outcompete native plants for water and other resources. In some parts of the world, invasive plants’ abundant nectar can help increase populations of disease-carrying mosquitoes.

Lewis said pesticides provide another example of cross-disciplinary challenges. Most pesticides used to spray mosquitos to promote public health were first used in agriculture.

“So there are examples of ‘new’ insecticides for mosquitoes used on mosquitoes already resistant to them,” he said.

Because of that, agriculture entomologists and public health researchers need to work together to find what works best for public health and also best incorporates lessons agriculture learned over years of using a chemical, Lewis said.

Invasive plants and uses of insecticides in agriculture and public health were among the challenges presented at an annual six-day course on vector-borne disease biology the institute hosted in mid-June.

Insect-borne disease is a major problem in much of the world. Lewis said human factors including deforestation, urbanization and climate change, which affect the biology of vectors and pathogens.

But controlling a disease vector insect or invasive plant could come at a cost, such as crop health.

As part of the course, research teams sought comprehensive solutions that address plant, animal and human health.

Luckhart also said local people can provide information important to creating a sustainable strategy, an opportunity researchers often don’t pursue enough.

A $500,000 USDA Research and Experiences for Undergraduates grant supports training more than 100 undergraduates over five years to do research projects, with help from faculty mentors. They deal with plant, animal and human health. Lewis is the principal investigator, and Luckhart and UI’s Glen Stevens are co-investigators.

The institute also offers supervised access to fluorescence and luminescence imaging technology and supports an advanced containment facility for vector arthropods.

“Ultimately we want to develop sustainable solutions to protect health and mitigate disease,” Luckhart said.

Occupations: Co-directors, University of Idaho Institute for Health in the Human Ecosystem.

Educations: Lewis — B.S., Cornell University, 1980; M.S., University of Missouri, 1987; Ph.D., entomology, Auburn University, 1991. Luckhart — B.S., University of Florida, 1986; M.S., Auburn, 1990; Ph.D., entomology, Rutgers, 1995.

Family: Married to each other. Met at Auburn University.

Hometowns: Lewis — Auburn, N.Y. Luckhart — Youngstown, Ohio.

Residence: Moscow, Idaho.

Hobbies: Fishing, camping, finding antiques.

Ages: Lewis 63, Luckhart 57.