Impacts of Climate and Migration on Health in the Darien Gap (2025-2026)
The Darien Gap – a densely forested geographic region that stretches across Panama and Colombia from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea – is experiencing unprecedented international migration, increasing from 9,000 transitory migrants in 2018 to over 520,000 in 2023. At the same time, Panamá has seen a resurgence of malaria, with more than 85% of cases occurring in the Darién and Guna Yala regions. These changes are unfolding in largely rural Indigenous communities with limited access to health care and increasing vulnerability to climate change.
This project team examined how migration, environmental change and shifting local economies influence malaria risk and human health in Indigenous Emberá-Wounaan communities along migration routes. The team worked in collaboration with partners at Institute for Advanced Scientific Research and High Technology Services (INDICASAT-AIP) and the University of Panama to support research planning and ethical review for future field-based work in the region.
Students organized into subteams focused on malaria ecology and epidemiology, nutrition and energy expenditure, and migration. Throughout the year, students received training in malaria epidemiology, mosquito biology, migration and economic change in the Darién region and decolonial approaches to global health research. Methodological training included survey design and experiments, market integration analysis and laboratory techniques analyzing carbon and nitrogen isotopes in hair and nail samples. Students also gained hands-on laboratory experience preparing biological samples for analysis.
In the fall, the team members conducted a literature review on a subteam topic of interest, and in the spring, they developed a poster for presentation at the inaugural Climate & Sustainability Research and Campus Impact Showcase.
Timing
Fall 2025 – Spring 2026
Team Outputs
Literature reviews on malaria ecology, migration and nutrition in the Darién Gap
Impacts of Climate and Migration on Health in the Darien Gap (Poster presentation at the Fortin Foundation Bass Connections Showcase, April 15, 2026)
Institutional Review Board protocol approval
Research protocol submitted for ethical review in Panamá
Manuscript in progress
See related team, Impacts of Climate and Migration on Health in the Darien Gap (2026–2027)