Novel Approach

This project represents a novel approach to both rewilding and drug discovery. Whereas most restoration research focuses on biodiversity or carbon metrics, and most drug discovery targets pristine habitats, this study bridges the two by testing whether rewilded ecosystems can restore microbial diversity with biomedical potential. By reframing rewilding as public health infrastructure, the project introduces a new paradigm for linking environmental recovery and medical innovation.​

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• New Intersection:

  • Studies on rewilding focus mainly on biodiversity, carbon storage, or ecosystem services.

  • Studies on antibiotic discovery focus on natural products from “pristine” habitats or lab strains.

  • Virtually no research bridges these two fields — asking whether restored ecosystems can also restore microbial diversity and medical potential is new.

• New Framing of Restoration:

  • I am reframing rewilding not only as an ecological or climate solution, but as public health infrastructure.

  • That conceptual link—between ecological healing and medical innovation—is an emerging, underexplored idea.

• New Methodology for a Student Project:

  • I'll be using simple, accessible microbial screening assays to generate pilot data at the intersection of ecology and medicine.

  • It’s novel because it brings an advanced question into a feasible undergraduate framework.

• New Integrative Model:

  • I am combining field ecology, microbiology, and community engagement in a single short-term study.