Bats are known to host more viruses than any other mammal species; understanding the spillover potential of these viruses, known as a zoonotic outbreak, has become increasingly important as humans encroach on the habitat of wild flora and fauna. At the same time, bats are essential to maintaining ecosystem health through seed dispersal, pollination, and insect control. This paradox emphasizes the urgent need to understand the disease ecology of bats in the interest of global health. Understanding how to monitor, characterize, and disseminate information about pathogen spillover is critical to global public health and Southeast Asian countries are at the highest risk of wildlife zoonotic outbreaks due to immense biodiversity found in this region. The urgency of these circumstances requires training of the future generation of scientists to connect and collaborate with scientists in high-need regions, where scientists, educators, and public health officials may lack the necessary training to monitor wildlife in a genomic and evolutionary framework. This IRES project trains U.S. student participants in fieldwork methods and analytical approaches for studying pathogens in wildlife reservoirs using affordable and portable biotechnology. The students are also trained in education and science communication techniques necessary for sharing information related to these topics. The program hosts up to 8 U.S. students per year at the Center for Biodiversity and Endangered Species (CBES)