Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** sea containers can carry…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** sea containers can carry contaminating invasive alien pests and diseases, which can have large negative impacts on animal and plant health, agriculture, and natural resources. However, sea container traffic data is held by private industry and has never been comprehensively evaluated. Our goal is to better understand the global network of sea container traffic and associated plant pest risks. Our team is composed of biosecurity experts from the united states of america, australia, new zealand, and the united kingdom, which is important for creating a globally representative dataset. After purchasing access to private data sources with grant funds, our objectives are to 1) quantitatively describe, for the first time, the likelihoods and frequencies of sea containers moving from and to different ports, 2) characterize the pest risks associated with important container ports, based on factors like proximity to habitat and local native/naturalized pests, and 3) synthesize that informationto estimate port risks by destination, generally and for member countries. The results of the project will be global and country-specific sea container network analyses, priority pest lists by destination, port risk ratings, and synthesized risk ratings by member country and byoriginating ports and destinations worldwide. Results will improve targeting and detection of pests for agricultural biosecurity, inform ongoing container initiatives and mitigation tactics used by the plant protection organizations of the project countries and others, and may suggest novel interventions.