In this book, we bring together interdisciplinary scholars and clinicians in medicine, public health, anthropology, nutrition, environmental sciences, and geography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, the Ministry of Health and the Hospital Oskar Jandl. Together, these authors provide a comprehensive description of the factors shaping water quality, food availability, and health services on the islands, their implications for human health and well-being, and potential avenues for intervention.

Amanda L. Thompson, Ph.D., MPH, is Professor in the Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a faculty research director at the Center for Galapagos Studies and a faculty fellow at the Carolina Population Center. Dr. Thompsons research focuses on the biological pathways linking social and physical environments to the development of obesity, chronic disease and the dual burden of disease across the lifespan in a range of international settings. She has over 60 publications in leading anthropology, nutrition and biomedical journals and her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

Valeria Ochoa-Herrera is the Dean of the School of Engineering, Science and Technology at Universidad del Rosario, Colombia. Previously, she was the Vice Dean of the College of Science and Engineering at Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ, Ecuador. Currently, she is an Adjunct Professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, USA and an associated researcher at Universidad San Francisco de Quito. Dr. Ochoa-Herreras research areas involve freshwater quality, wastewater treatment, and anaerobic bioremediation and sustainability. She has contributed to promoting technological innovation and action against water pollution in the region. Dr. Ochoa-Herrera has published 46 peer review publications, 3 books, 2 book chapters and her research has been presented at 15 international conferences.

Enrique Teran is an Ecuadorian medical doctor and holds a Ph.D. in pharmacology. He has been working for more than 20 years on vascular factors, infectious and metabolic diseases, oxidative stress, and pharmacogenetics in the Ecuadorian population. Dr. Teran is the author of more than 90 publications in peer review journals and also is a member of the Ecuadorian Academyof Medicine and the Academy of Science from Ecuador. Dr. Teran is currently a professor at the College of Health in the Universidad San Francisco de Quito and also a researcher at the Galapagos Science Center. 

Preface (Amanda L. Thompson, Valeria Ochoa-Herrera, Enrique Teran).- Chapter 1. Introduction (Margaret E. Bentley and Jaime Ocampo).- Part I: Water Environment.- Chapter 2. Analysis of water supply and demand management strategies for overcoming water scarcity in Santa Cruz (Maria Fernandes Reyes).- Chapter 3. Galapagos Water Management Evaluation under a Changing Climate and Current Covid-19 Pandemic (Cristina Mateus, Diego Quiroga).- Chapter 4. Water quality and access in Isabella: results from a household water survey (Nicholas Badwha, Donald Fefjar, Rodrigo Pozo, Khristopher Nicholas, Alyssa Grube, Jill Stewart, Amanda Thompson and Valeria Ochoa-Herrera).- Chapter 5. Tourists Willingness to Fund Improvements of Local Water Services: A Contingent Valuation Study from The Galapagos (William F. Vásquez).- Part II: Food Environment.- Chapter 6. Syndemic water and food insecurity: impacts on the dual burden of disease in Galapagos (Amanda L. Thompson, Enrique Teran and Margaret E. Bentley).- Chapter 7. Overweight and obesity in Galapagos:Food consumption patterns and globalization in the Encantadas (William F. Waters and Wilma B. Freire).- Chapter 8. Spatial and social dimensions of Galápagos food environments (Khristopher Nicholas, Paul Delameter, and Amanda Thompson).- Part III: Environment, Animals and Human Health.- Chapter 9. One Health in the Galapagos Social-Ecological System: Not Just the Absence of Disease (Alyssa Grube and Jill Stewart).- Chapter 10. A One Health Approach to Understanding Human Companion Animal Interactions and Parasitic Infections in San Cristobal, Galapagos Islands (Leigh-Ellyn Preston, Colon J. Grijalva& Enrique Teran).- Chapter 11. Surprising absence of antibiotic resistance in Salmonella enterica isolates from Galapagos Marine Iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) (Belen Carrillo, Cristina Chavez, Gabriel Trueba).- Chapter 12. Mosquitoes in Galapagos: The risk for arboviruses transmission and the need for a better vector surveillance and control program (Renato León, Leonardo Ortega, Carolina Molina, William F. Waters).- Part IV: Health Problems and Services.- Chapter 13. Health Across the First 1000 Days in the Galápagos Islands (Johanna R. Jahnke, Amanda L. Thompson, Norman T. Archer, Margaret E. Bentley, Kelly M. Houck, María Francisca Murgueitio Fuentes, Juan Ochoa).- Chapter 14. Galapagos Islands, a captive territory with unique characteristics for Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection (Ana María Gómez Jaramillo, Juan Ochoa, Isabel Hernandez and Enrique Terán).- Chapter 15. Understanding the lived experience of type 2 diabetes in San Cristobal (C. Hunter Davis, Paulina Lara Marchena, Humberto Gonzalez Rodriguez, Clare Barrington).- Chapter 16. Health seeking behavior and perceptions of care: A qualitative study investigating the underutilization of public health care on the Galápagos Islands (Johanna R. Jahnke, Norman T. Archer, Amanda L. Thompson, Jaime Ocampo, Margaret E. Bentley).- Chapter 17. Facilitating evidenced based nursing and humane health care through professional development (Julee Waldrop, Alasia Ledford, Betty Martinez, Johanna R. Jahnke, Gwen Sherwood).- Index.