Stream Outline
Healthy Environment directly advances Target 3: Healthy Environment, focusing on the deep interconnections between human well-being and environmental systems. The need for this Stream arises from the recognition that human health and environmental health are mutually reinforcing. It is self-evident that pollution and ecological degradation compromise human health, but less obvious is that broader measures of well-being, including mental resilience and social stability, depend on environmental balance and biodiversity as well. Conversely, environmental health itself relies on resilient communities that are capable of sustaining stewardship, and these communities are in turn built on mentally and phisically healthy individuals.
This circular relationship underpins the importance of the Healthy Environment Stream within the overall program design. While no major restructuring was required compared with the original proposal, several new projects have been added to strengthen the integration of environmental monitoring, ecosystem resilience, and social applications. The Stream thus provides a framework that situates environmental sustainability not as a separate goal but as an integral part of the broader vision of human well-being.
R&D Leader
Timothy Ravasi (OIST, Professor)
Projects
Fish Biodiversity Monitoring in Coral Reefs through Environmental DNA and Environmental RNA
Advances molecular and computational protocols using eDNA and eRNA to monitor fish biodiversity in coral reef ecosystems. Generates biodiversity indices and catalogues for stakeholders, supporting reef conservation and restoration in Okinawa.
PI: Timothy Ravasi
Development of Coral eDNA Metabarcoding
Develops eDNA metabarcoding methods to survey coral reefs more efficiently, focusing on scleractinian corals in the Ryukyu Archipelago and beyond. Provides molecular tools to monitor reef health and strengthen conservation under climate change.
PI: Noriyuki Satoh
Developing Tools and Databases for Integrated Monitoring of Marine Plankton Diversity
Builds tools that integrate eDNA sequencing, automated imaging, and machine learning to monitor plankton diversity. Complements the coral and fish work, creating an integrated marine biodiversity monitoring platform.
PI: Filip HUSNIK
Soil to Plants to Herbivores: Exploring the Hidden Flow of Health
Explores how soil microbiomes shape plant metabolomes and how these, in turn, affect the health of herbivores. Connects environmental processes directly to nutrition and human well-being, with applications for agriculture and food security.
PI: Chikae TATSUMI
