Tales from the Urban Wild: Probing Human-Animal Interactions in Informal Dwellings

Background: Informal settlements are home to more than a billion people. This number is growing annually in low and middle-income countries such as Indonesia and Fiji. These communities often have limited or no access to sanitation services resulting in reduced environmental quality and public health due to increased exposure to pathogens, pollutants, and disease vectors in air, water, food, and soil. Key to improving environmental and public health within informal settlements is understanding the risk posed to communities from pathogens transmitted through environmental and local animal (zoonotic) pathways and quantify associated exposure risks. Methods: This project aims to quantify the microbial risk posed by animal associated microbial pathogens to children within 12 informal settlements within Makassar (Indonesia) and Suva (Fiji). As part of our multi-disciplinary research team you will have the opportunity to undertake a mixed-method approach to understand pathways to exposure. This may include: undertaking a literature review to understand animal specific health risks, faecal deposition mapping, collation of environmental (key factors - such as seasonality, temperature and rainfall) data and/or molecular analysis. Learning objectives: In undertaking this project, you will gain key knowledge on pathogen dynamics within informal settlements, sources of contamination and pathways to transmission important to public health. You will develop skills in data analytics, applied microbial research, scientific writing and reporting to broad multi-disciplinary audiences. The output from your work will directly inform intervention strategies applied within informal communities in Indonesia and Fiji.