PrintCONS News
April 2012
Student Receives Fulbright Grant
Join us in congratulating Kelly Haisfield, a PPCN student, who has been awarded a 2012-13 Fulbright to study in Indonesia. Kelly will focus her research on the Gili Islands, where she will investigate the effectiveness of BioRock, an artificial structure used to restore damaged coral reefs.
Kelly secured an affiliation with Mataram University, and will work with Professor Arifin Bakti, an expert in coral reef ecology.
Upon her return Kelly will work for an environmental organization and will continue to focus her conservation work throughout the East Asian and Pacific regions.
Congratulations, Kelly!
October 2011
CONSer Awarded Post Course Research Grant
This past summer, current CONS student Katie Zdilla completed two field courses based in Costa Rica through the Organization of Tropical Studies (OTS), with a focus on conservation genetics and tropical ecology. Following her work with OTS, Katie has recently been awarded a post course research grant for a project entitled "Activity budget and feeding ecology of the mantled howler monkey (Alouatta palliata) in primary and secondary forests." Katie will return to La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica this winter to complete her work, which will likely produce preliminary data in support of more long term studies of primate ecology in the future.
In addition to her Costa Rica research, Katie also presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists in Austin, Texas in September 2011. There, Katie shared the results of her previous research in Gambia, which focused on the behavioral ecology of Western red colobus and green vervets in response to forest fragmentation.
Great work, Katie!
June 2011
CONS Student Awarded Boren Fellowship
Liabeth Yohannes has been awarded a 2011-2012 Boren Fellowship for her proposal entitled "Study of Portuguese Language & Research on Social & Environmental Impact of Biofuels on Family Farmers." Boren Fellowships provide up to $30,000 to U.S. graduate students to add an important international and language component to their graduate education through specialization in area study, language study, or increased language proficiency. Congratulations Lia!
April 2011
CONSers present at AAG Conference
CONS students Jose Antonio Arellano Lobo, Jeremy Peichel, and Krista
Heiner gave a presentation on April 15th at the 2011 American
Association of Geographers conference in Seattle, Washington. Their
presentation, entitled "Targeting conservation and development: An
evaluation of poverty indicator links to ecosystem services" was part of
a paper session on Payments for Ecosystem Services, Poverty Reduction,
and Carbon Markets.
ABSTRACT
Understanding the links between ecosystem services and poverty is critical to aligning the goals of conservation and sustainable development. Numerous studies have demonstrated a variety of direct and indirect links between the provisioning of ecosystem services and human well-being. We reviewed the literature on the links between well-being and nine ecosystem services (biodiversity, agriculture, carbon sequestration, pollination, water quality and timing, non-timber forest products, tourism/recreation, and cultural/non-use) from the Natural Capital Project's InVEST model. A review of these studies highlights both the positive and negative impacts of payment for ecosystem services (PES) on both suppliers who receive payments and recipients who receive improved services. Indicators for these impacts were identified and analyzed utilizing a criteria-alternatives matrix, where they were evaluated based on several spatial, data quality, robustness, and accessibility criteria. From this we generated a list of the best indicators for highlighting the nexus of poverty alleviation and ecosystem services. Adding these indicators to conservation priorities can help identify opportunities to achieve both goals of effective conservation and poverty alleviation. Targeting the areas where poverty and ecosystem services intersect serves to achieve the greatest social and environmental good per dollar spent.
CONS Student Receives Fulbright Grant
Krista Heiner, a dual-degree Master's student in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development (CONS) and Public Policy, has been awarded a Fulbright research grant to Mali. Fulbright proposals to sub-Saharan Africa are extremely competitive, with only a 12% acceptance rate nationally.
Krista will study local natural resource management conventions in Mali and their integration across institutional levels. In conjunction with the Group de Recherche en Sociologie et Droit Appliqué (GERSDA) at the University of Bamako and Sahel Eco, a local NGO, she will examine the perspectives of stakeholders at local, regional, and national levels to understand how local conventions might be better integrated at each of these levels to enable their long-term success.
Congratulations, Krista!
December 2010
CONS Students Take Campus Sustainability to New Heights with $4,500 Grant
First year CONS students Frank Fogarty and Nicole Horvath were awarded a $4,500 grant from the University of Maryland's Student Sustainability Fund for a project to develop a Rooftop Community Garden on the South Campus Dining Hall. In collaboration with the Rooftop Garden Club, a local student led organization, they will construct the garden infrastructure and create a management program jointly operated
by the Rooftop Garden Club and Dini
ng Services.
The garden will feature a rainwater harvesting system, designed by Engineers Without Borders, that will provide the garden with irrigation while reducing the South Campus Dining Hall's storm water footprint. The space will be open and accessible to all students and faculty for individual gardening projects, while also providing available space for student research and hands-on experience related to course work. Related classes will also tour the garden and opportunities will exist for larger projects, such as senior theses and Gemstone research projects.
The Rooftop Community Garden will be a highly visible example of the CONS program and the larger student body's push towards making College Park a more livable and sustainable place.
November 2010
CONServation in action!
CONS students gathered together on Saturday, November 6th, for a day of tree planting to assist in the reforestation of Takoma Branch, a tributary of Sligo Creek and the Anacostia River. Students partnered with the Anacostia Watershed Restoration Partnership, a locally based multijurisdictional initiative that seeks to improve the environmental health of the Anacostia Watershed, for a day of service and environmental stewardship. Participating CONSers planted trees to benefit the tree canopy and created vernal pools, which serve as key habitat for species of frogs, salamanders, and other animals that reside along the banks of the tributary.
Current first year CONS student Nicole Horvath remarked that "it was great to be able to take the theories that we learn in our CONS curriculum and apply them outside the classroom to help restore local watersheds. The event also gave us an opportunity to network with local conservation practitioners and spend time with fellow CONSers enjoying the outdoors".
Fall Open House
CONS held its Fall Open House for prospective students on November 9, 2010. The CONS program would like to thank all prospective students who attended the 2010 Open House event. For additional information on how to apply to the CONS program, please see our application procedures or contact the CONS office
October 2010
Congratulations to CONS student Rachel Tennant!
Rachel has received a 2010 Scholarship for participation at the Wildlife Habitat Council’s 22nd Annual Symposium themed “The Business of Biodiversity” where she will exhibit some of her work conducted at Florida International University. An abstract can be found below.
ABSTRACT
Niger is a developing country that is prone to intense rainfall variability and anthropogenic stresses caused by agriculture and population increases during the mid-nineteenth century. Specifically, trees that once protected local soils from the Sahara winds were clear-cut, leaving the landscape vulnerable to erosion and drought. Predictably, the agriculture of Niger, a major component of the Nigerian economy, collapsed and left the people suffering a terrible famine. This report provides a review of scientific articles, and a compilation of data and observations, to illustrate the restoration efforts that took place in Niger. Specifically, we focus on the challenges and successes seen by the Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) movement between 1983 and 2005. FMNR is an ongoing effort that enables communities to re-establish the structure of their soils and agriculture through farmer-led regeneration of once-felled trees. Ultimately a successful endeavor, FMNR is a promising restoration method that reversed the effects of historic poor land management in Niger.
