Curiosity Weekly Urban Ecosystems With The Rat Detective
Jan 28, 2026
Dr. Kaylee Byers, assistant professor studying urban wildlife and One Health, blends science and community action. She talks about rats as indicators of city health, a rat risk index to guide management, genomics for tracking urban animals, and equitable greening and community-driven research. Short, sharp stories about city ecosystems and practical tools for healthier urban life.
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Health Is A Connected System
- One Health links human, animal, and environmental health as a single system.
- Kaylee Byers stresses we cannot study any of those in isolation.
Center Community Priorities First
- Ask communities what their wildlife health priorities are before designing research.
- Use passive surveillance like public reports alongside active sampling to build useful data systems.
Social Barriers Shape Animal Vaccination
- Social factors like gender and caregiving roles shape access to livestock vaccines.
- Kaylee Byers found women often face more barriers to vaccinating animals due to time and resource constraints.