Location: South America

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A five-year, $5 million grant has been awarded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to the UTHealth Houston Institute for Implementation Science to support research and training in implementation science, with a focus on improving cancer control efforts in Mexico and Latin America.

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Over the past decades, Brazil has become the world’s leading soybean producer, as well as the leading consumer of pesticides. Despite concerns about potential public health consequences, little is known about the effects of pesticide exposure in the general population.

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University of Illinois anthropology professor Lisa Lucero argues in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that ancient Maya reservoirs, which used aquatic plants to filter and clean the water, “can serve as archetypes for natural, sustainable water systems to address future water needs.” The Maya built and maintained reservoirs that were in use for more than 1,000 years, providing potable water for thousands to tens of thousands of people in cities during the annual, five-month dry season and in periods of prolonged drought.

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The ivory palm tree, also known as tagua, is endemic to the Chocó-Darien region on the Pacific coast of South America. Two studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE) explore the ecosystem services provided by tagua in coastal Ecuador.

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A new study revealing that huge expansions of extensive large-scale agriculture is making the South American plains more vulnerable to widespread flooding should act as a “wake-up call”, say researchers.

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Developing countries around the globe face a challenge that pits economic growth against environmental protection. As they expand their agricultural production, they often convert forest into cropland and pasture. But the large-scale removal of trees weakens the world’s ability to prevent further climate deterioration and biodiversity loss.

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A group of researchers from CONICET and the University of Utah demonstrated that during the time of the first dinosaurs, variations in the diversity and abundance of the plant and vertebrate animal species cannot be related to the climatic changes recorded throughout its deposition, in contrast with previous hypotheses.

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UTSW scientists identify key molecule produced by male parasitic worms that affects sexual maturity in females and leads to schistosomiasis

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Findings suggest Incas had a different name for the site

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New study Amazon forests capture high levels of atmospheric mercury pollution from artisanal gold mining published in Nature Communications. An international team of researchers documented substantial mercury accumulation in soils, biomass, and resident songbirds in some of the Amazon’s most protected and biodiverse areas.

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The Global Virus Network (GVN), representing 67 Centers of Excellence and 10 Affiliates in 36 countries comprising foremost experts in every class of virus causing disease in humans, and the Scientific Platform Pasteur-University of São Paulo (SPPU) announced the addition of the SPPU as GVN’s newest Center of Excellence.

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A Cornell University geochemist has helped discover solid evidence that connects the geochemical fingerprint of the Galápagos plume with mantle materials underneath Panama and Costa Rica – documenting the course of a mantle plume that flows sideways through upper portions of the Earth.

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The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) has announced that Hospital Metropolitano in Quito, Ecuador, will be the host location of a new Global Learning Center (GLC). This is the first GLC site in South America.