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Partners

M Mendez, JL Casenave, I Izaguirre, D Bilenca, R Gurtler, Bettina Mahler, JC Reboreda at the School of Natural Sciences, University of Buenos Aires

Synopsis

We have developed and launched a Maesters Program and a Professional Certificate in Biodiversity Conservation at the School of Natural Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina. The new Professional Certificate and sequential Masters Program are targeted to a diverse audience of professionals and graduate students working on a variety of fields relevant for conservation. The faculty, guest lecturers and field practitioners that work with the students during their tenure at these programs are also diverse in order to provide complementary sets of experiences and expertise to solve concrete problems in the field of conservation. The first cohort of Certificate and Masters students completed their classes and are currently working on their theses. The second student cohort will start in March 2018.

As part of the evaluation process to assess the need for such a course/program in Latin America, I have published an analysis in the journal Conservation Biology that surveyed over 750 academic programs in in the region (the entire database is available at the SCB website). This published work concludes that there is a conspicuous need for programs specifically oriented towards biodiversity conservation in the region, and offers some insights regarding their implementation. Part of this work has been published in the journal Conservation Biology .



(© Martin Mendez)