This $814,512 National Science Foundation award under the Biological Sciences (47.074) program will fund collaborative research on integrated mechanisms of environment-host-virome interactions in Egyptian fruit bats. The University of California, Davis will lead the project to study how factors like food access, animal health, and immune responses influence viral infection levels in bat populations experiencing variable human exposure. Researchers will use integrative approaches to illuminate the fundamental biology of disease risk and enhance capacity to predict viral spillover risks from bats to other wildlife or humans. The project aims to relate landscape resources, individual bat condition and immunity to viral profiles. It will also implement an innovative undergraduate research experience called "From the Bat Cave - Integrative Disease Research for Undergraduates." Results are expected to provide new insights into disease dynamics in wildlife and help model and prevent future pandemics.