1. Program detail

The University of Idaho’s Global Disease Ecology program is a different kind of major for undergraduates.

Ed Lewis of the UI College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, expects demand to grow for the major, which debuted last fall.

“Everybody wants to make somebody’s life better,” said Lewis, who heads the Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Nematology. “Students understand this and want the same thing. It is a broad curriculum that demands and requires integration.”

“You become a problem solver,” he said. “And we certainly have a lot of problems to solve.”

UI said the degree aims to advance students’ understanding of of the societal, environmental and personal ramifications of diseases that impact plants, animals and humans living together in complex ecosystems — from agricultural landscapes to cities.

Lewis said the major  emphasizes larger contexts, such as how and why diseases develop and strategies for mitigation.

Diseases in plants, livestock, wildlife and people share many underlying causes and pathogens.

“Every single fungal infection of humans comes from a fungus that has started in plants,” Lewis said. “That’s the kind of information that can be incredibly helpful to somebody studying plant fungi or somebody studying athlete’s foot.”

The major requires working side-by-side with a faculty mentor on a lab or field research project, including writing the proposal.

The two-semester project is an opportunity to look inside “the hows and whys of the research,” Lewis said, and “to understand a little more about why it’s important” to organizations such as USDA, National Institutes for Health, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the military.

He said the degree program aims to provide a strong background for graduate study or various jobs — from working at agencies and agriculture companies to helping to craft policy.

“If there’s any place we need understanding of science, it’s in policy development,” Lewis said.

He said the major is largely a result of discussions he and his wife, UI professor Shirley Luckhart, who focuses on malaria, have had over the years.

They identified a need for scientists to work together toward broader understanding, including moving beyond the sometimes silo-like confines of specialized research.

Another need for the major, which Lewis said is unique in the Northwest, centers on an increasingly dynamic job market.

“Basic fundamental training, problem solving and integration of knowledge is essential to everything,” he said.