Why are coronaviruses actively circulating among people and animals? Is the common narrative about Wuhan as the epicenter of COVID-19 fundamentally flawed? How has industrial agriculture—especially sugar production—disrupted ecological and metabolic processes, making both bats and humans more vulnerable to pandemics?

In this compelling lecture, Professor Eben Kirksey (University of Oxford) presents insights from extended field research in Southeast Asia using multispecies ethnographic methods. By tracing the connections between deforestation, bat stress, and viral spillover, this talk will challenge mainstream pandemic narratives and propose a broader understanding of ecological vulnerability.