Simone summer

Note: Unfortunately, the event has to be cancelled at short notice. We will try to find an alternative date. Tickets can be returned at the respective advance booking office. Tickets purchased online will be cancelled automatically via our service provider Reservix.

Swine flu, Ebola, SARS and now Covid-19 – all these infectious diseases have their origins in the animal kingdom. But how is it that pathogens cross the species barrier and jump to humans?

Scientific studies show that humans, with their lifestyle, play a major role in the emergence of new pandemics. Environmental degradation, climate change, globalization, increasing population density, the consumption of wild animal meat and factory farming facilitate the emergence of zoonoses.
One thing is clear: species, environmental and climate protection must be given greater priority – not least in the interests of our own health.

Prof. Dr. Simone Sommer is an expert on zoonoses and director of the Institute for Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics at the University of Ulm. Research stays have already taken her to Madagascar, Namibia, South Africa, the USA, Brazil and Panama, among other places.

As part of the International Science Festival – Geist Heidelberg