Human Ecology is,

literally a science of the ecology of human populations, especially of the variety of contemporary populations living in Asian and Oceania countries. We are concerned primary with two types of questions ? though which are often interwoven with each other; one is a questions common to the ecology in general, “how the population of living organism utilize the environment to procure food/nutrition and to reproduce next generations?”, the other is a question relatively emphasized in the ecology of human, “how the human activities impact the environment (including earth), and how the environment modified as such impact the human health/survival. Through answering these questions, we try to provide basic information that will be relevant to solve the current [worldwide] problems in population, food, as well as environment.

To tackle with such broad area of questions,

our study approach involves both fieldwork and lab/experimental work. Our fieldwork has been conducted mainly in the rural areas of Asian and Oceania countries, where we are examining the relationship between subsistence ? environmental impact ? health/nutrition or examining the relation between development and nutrition/health/subsistence. In the laboratory, we have been examining the effects of environmentally relevant chemicals such as heavy metals and trace elements, especially on children (including fetus). Emphases are on the effects on neurobehavioral development, and we have been particularly interested in genetic/ecological modifying factors. Chemical analyses of samples obtained in the field (biological and environmental samples). Regardless the approaches, the ever-changing and multi-facet relationships between human population and its environment are the major targets of Human Ecology.

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2009 Department of Human Ecology/School of International Health/Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo.