2026 Workshop: Kilpisjärvi, Finland

Overview

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The 2026 RBZD Workshop will bring together researchers working across diverse ecological, cultural, and disciplinary contexts to compare rodent–human–environment systems, share methodological approaches, and strengthen interdisciplinary networks.

By placing different systems and disciplines into conversation—from Lapland’s boreal zone and subarctic tundra to African agro-ecosystems—we aim to build a more integrated understanding of rodent-borne zoonoses, focusing on the three interrelated pillars of disease ecology, synanthropy, and rodentation.

Organising Committee

  • Prof. Heikki Henttonen (Natural Resources Institute Finland)
  • Prof. Tarja Sironen (University of Helsinki)
  • Dr. Sagan Friant (Penn State)
  • Prof. Peter Hudson (Penn State)
  • Dr. David Simons (Penn State)
  • Dr. Lina Moses (Tulane)

Scientific Programme

Day 1: Thursday, 18 June

  • Morning: Welcome Remarks
  • Session 1: Finnish Boreal–Arctic Rodent Disease Systems
    • Purpose: Establish a sense of place and introduce key themes for comparative thinking. Focuses on ecological dynamics, long-term datasets, and open questions in boreal–arctic rodent disease ecology, including host behavioural ecology (e.g., bank vole behaviour and dispersal dynamics) in relation to Puumala hantavirus transmission.
    • Format: Plenary 1 (Big questions and emerging approaches) followed by short talks, panel, and facilitated discussion.
  • Session 2: Rodentation — Landscape Change and Rodent Systems
    • Purpose: Examine how landscape change reshapes rodent populations and disease systems. Focuses on land-use change, habitat disturbance, agriculture, and urbanisation. Discussion will also consider rewilding and nature-based solutions.
    • Format: Plenary 2 followed by comparative case studies and interactive discussion.

Day 2: Friday, 19 June (Midsummer Eve)

  • Session 3: Human-Rodent Interfaces
    • Purpose: Introduce human dimensions and socio-ecological contexts. Examines how land use, livelihoods, food systems, housing, mobility, and everyday practices mediate contact between people, rodents, and pathogens. Will highlight emerging approaches like human movement data and citizen science.
    • Format: Plenary 3 followed by comparative case studies and facilitated discussion.
  • Session 4: Public Health, Interventions, and Translation
    • Purpose: Examine how ecological insights are translated into public health action. Reflects on how intervention strategies are shaped across contexts and historical/funding landscapes.
    • Format: Facilitated discussion on intervention leverage points.

Day 3: Saturday, 20 June (Midsummer Day)

  • Session 5: Comparative Rodent Disease Ecology
    • Purpose: Share perspectives from diverse systems and interrogate core assumptions in spillover science. A focal topic will be “multi-host” systems and what pathogen detection across species reveals about host competence and spillover risk.
    • Format: Comparative case studies and panel discussion.
  • Session 6: Workshop Synthesis and Wrap-up
    • Purpose: Integrate themes across the three pillars to identify shared priorities and potential outputs.
    • Format: Facilitated synthesis discussion and identification of next steps.

Outputs

Anticipated outputs for the 2026 workshop include the consolidation of cross-cutting research priorities and the formulation of future collaborative outputs grounded in the three pillars of rodent-borne zoonoses.