A Closer Look at Earth Science Applications to Protect Population Health

Diverse environmental factors can affect the quality of the surrounding ecosystem, shared by humans, animals, and plants. Any imbalance within the ecosystem - such as air contaminants, harmful algal blooms, extreme heat temperatures, and spread of vector-borne diseases - can challenge environmental scientists and practitioners in their current research and community applications. To address this challenge, three innovative approaches can be applied to community practice. First, the use of Earth-observing satellite data can detect real-time changes in the global ecosystem. Second, citizen science applications have the potential to validate on-the-ground data and strengthen research and community partnerships. Third, the "One Health" concept, which describes the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health, can promote transdisciplinary collaborations to advance scientific knowledge. Hence, by integrating Earth science data with public health data, researchers can build robust partnerships and develop sophisticated research methods to contribute to environmental health. In this presentation, we will describe the role of Earth-observing satellite data, citizen science applications, and the "One Health" concept in environmental health research applications using three examples that showcase enhanced risk assessment, public health surveillance, and ultimately, protect population health.