Growing up in southern Mexico, Rodolfo Dirzo watched fragments of forest vanish before his eyes and never stopped asking why. Now at Stanford, his lab investigates the compounding forces reshaping our natural world: land use change, biodiversity loss, and pollution – none of which operate in isolation, he says.

Using specialized equipment like laser-triggered cameras and harmless traps that bait creatures with an irresistible mixture of peanut butter and honey, his team captures the quiet shifts occurring in ecosystems around us, and how they ultimately circle back to human health.