Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and Department of Geography associate professor, Holly Gibbs will receive support for her research from two 2021 University of Wisconsin-Madison Global Health Institute (GHI) Seed Grants. Her research titled, “Health, climate, and agriculture: A case study of Brazil’s Amazon and Cerrado biomes,” has been awarded a seed grant and Kaitlyn Sims, a doctoral student in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics will receive support through the Henry Anderson III Graduate Student Award in Environmental and Occupational Public Health in support of her work on this research.
Gibbs research will focus on the health impacts associated with agriculture, deforestation and climate shocks throughout Brazil. The project is result of an observation that Marin Skidmore, PhD, a co-principal investigator also from the Nelson Institute and the Department of Agriculture and Applied Economics in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, heard while conducting research in the Amazon- “…When soy arrives in a region, cancer follows.” Upon hearing this, Gibbs became interested in utilizing data to confirm if this local observation was true.
Gibbs shared with GHI that the Seed Grant will open new doors to research innovations. Gibbs said, “Without it, we would not have a chance to study the health effects of agricultural intensification and deforestation in Brazil.”