Center-Affiliated Field Training Programs

"The long-term success of any conservation or health program depends in large part on the ability of the local people to take leading roles in the conduct of those programs"

The Center maintains collaborative agreements (MOUs) with partner institutions and organizations in a number countries (see following pages) that help facilitate field-based educational/research/service-learning opportunities for university students and professionals.

                         

Ultimate Goal: to help foster the next generation of global leaders who are capable of implementing the programs needed to ensure the future of their countries’ important natural resources, the health of their people, and the conservation of biodiversity worldwide.

CGFS in collaboration with our partner institutions provide annual field training programs - "Field Course in Conservation Biology & Global Health: At the Human-Environment Interface"- for university students (both undergraduate and graduate) and professionals in a number of countries.

Over the past decade, the diversity of field course participants has expanded beyond local university students to include: university staff and faculty, government forestry officers, park rangers, zoo staff, veterinarians, laboratory researchers, staff from conservation NGOs, environmental journalists, local tourist guides, members of community conservation organizations, middle and high school teachers, and community leaders.

Overview: The field course provides an introduction to the disciplines of Conservation Biology and Global Health – with a focus on the Human-Environment Interface. A wide range of related topic areas are covered including, field study methods, management and conservation strategies, primate behavior and ecology, the human-wildlife interface, issues in global health, biomedical research and translational science.

The course is intended to provide participants with an initial understanding of the basic principles of Conservation Biology, experience with the methods and techniques used in field research, an appreciation of the need for population and ecosystem management and conservation, and an understanding of the complex relationship between environmental health and global health - at the human-environment interface. The course consists of daily lectures, field exercises, and community outreach education.