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<div><font face="Monotype.com" color="#000000">Apologies for the
cross-postings. Please forward to anyone who might be
interested. Thanks.</font></div>
<div><font face="Monotype.com" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><b>Development of Integrated
Conservation Biology Curriculum Materials for Tropical
Countries</b></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><b><br></b></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">A largely unappreciated
dimension of the biodiversity crisis is that in tropical countries,
where most of the world's biota resides, comprehensive training
opportunities for conservation biologists are limited. An
important root of the problem is a lack of relevant training
materials in an appropriate language of instruction, particularly at
the university level.</font></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">To address the issue, we are
undertaking an effort to develop an integrated set of conservation
biology training materials useful at the undergraduate, graduate, and
professional levels for universities in tropical countries. This
collective effort is being overseen by the Center for Biodiversity
and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History, in
cooperation with the Education Committee of the Society for
Conservation Biology. The goal is to generate for each of a broad
range of topics in conservation biology:</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">(1) an expert summary of a
topic or an annotated bibliography of relevant summaries;</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">(2) a collection of the
original scientific literature for each topic;</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">(3) a set of easily modified
visual presentations for use in lectures; and</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">(4) an extensive
problem-solving exercise.</font></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Materials will be translated
into the language of instruction for a particular locale, starting
with Spanish, French, Vietnamese, and English. All materials
will be freely available to any party via the internet and will be
distributed as needed in other formats for people not currently able
to gain access to the internet. We will regularly upload new
modules to the web site, which will be designed in an interactive
format that allows teachers using the modules to make comments or
modifications based on their experiences in the classroom. For
more information on the materials, please see our preliminary web
site: http://research.amnh.org/biodiversity/pr<span
></span>ograms/curriculum</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Most conservation biologists
have at some point in their careers developed or encountered
non-copyrighted materials that could contribute to this effort. Those
working in conservation agencies as well as educators in particular
may have useful materials. <b> After looking over the
preliminary list of topics assembled below, might you have something
to contribute?</b> </font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">We are specifically looking
for course materials, written exercises, lectures and presentations,
and other source material that could be adapted, with your permission
and preferably with your assistance and guidance, to become a
component of this integrated curriculum effort. Premium
materials will be those already piloted and implemented in developing
countries.</font></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">If you have comments,
contributions, or suggestions, please email us at:
biodiversity2@amnh.org. </font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">PRELIMINARY TOPIC
LIST</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times"
color="#000000">***************************</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">THE HUMAN CONTEXT</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Human evolutionary
history</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Human consumption of natural
resources</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Human population
growth</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Population and consumption:
interactions and inequalities</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Human health and
biodiversity</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Indigenous
knowledge/Ethnobiology</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Envisioning the future:
depicting alternative scenarios</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Land
tenure/ownership</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"> </font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">PRINCIPLES OF CONSERVATION
BIOLOGY</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">What is biological
diversity?</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">How many species are
there?</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Where is the world's
biodiversity?</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Historical perspectives on
extinction and the current situation</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Ecological consequences of
extinctions</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Valuing
biodiversity</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">The history and philosophy of
conservation biology and definition of terms</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Microevolutionary processes:
genetic drift, natural selection and local divergence</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Macroevolution: essentials of
systematics and taxonomy</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Animal demography</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Plant demography</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Small population
phenomena</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Harvested
populations</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Metapopulations</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Synergies and species
linkages</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Natural communities in space
and time</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Processes and functions of
ecological systems</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Landscape ecology</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Biogeography</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">THREATS TO
BIODIVERSITY</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Overview of threats to
biodiversity</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Habitat loss, fragmentation
and degradation</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Biological
invasions</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Pollution</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Over-harvesting</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Climate change</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Disease</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"> </font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">CONSERVATION
RESEARCH</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Defining goals and
objectives</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Designing successful research
projects</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Elements of
sampling</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Sampling to determine
presence/absence</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Estimating population size:
plots</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Estimating population size:
incomplete counts</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Estimating species
diversity</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Estimating survival and
reproductive rates</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Statistics and
hypotheses</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Designing experiments to
identify causes of declines</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Studying interactions and
identifying synergisms</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Applying deterministic
population models</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Applying stochastic
population models</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Delineating
ecosystems</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Monitoring and adaptive
management</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Landscape modeling:
integrating ecological and economic processes</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Conservation
genetics</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Biotechnology</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"> </font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">ECOLOGICAL MONITORING AND
ASSESSMENT</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Measuring habitat
requirements</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Measuring diets</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Collecting plants</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Collecting
vertebrates</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Collecting
invertebrates</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Monitoring herbaceous
plants</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Monitoring trees</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Monitoring birds</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Monitoring
mammals</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Monitoring reptiles and
amphibians</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Monitoring fishes</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Monitoring
invertebrates</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Monitoring the physical
environment</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Monitoring human
activities</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Monitoring landscapes and
ecological processes</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">CONSERVATION
PLANNING</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Planning at different
scales</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Defining goals and
objectives</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Defining the political
context</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Defining the social
context</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Understanding the historical
context</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Prioritizing
species</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Prioritizing
ecosystems</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Prioritizing
sites</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Prioritizing across
scales</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Creating a reserve system:
Zoning and land-use planning</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Conservation options for
non-protected areas</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Environmental impact
assessment</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Writing a site management
plan</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Writing a species recovery
plan</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Integrated monitoring for
program assessment</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Ecological
economics</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"> </font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">MANAGING FOR
CONSERVATION</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Management decisions in a
context of uncertainty</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Elements of adaptive
management</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Threats
assessment</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Threat abatement</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Prioritizing scarce
resources</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Local community involvement
in planning</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Enforcement of conservation
laws</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Endangered species
management</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Animal
reintroductions</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Plant
reintroductions</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Controlling exotic
animals</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Controlling exotic
plants</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Managing disease</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Controlling habitat
fragmentation</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Managing
ecotourism</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Zoos, aquaria, and captive
management</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Botanical gardens and
arboreta</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Seed banks</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"> </font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">HABITAT-SPECIFIC
MANAGEMENT</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Wetland management and
restoration</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Lake management and
restoration</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Stream management and
restoration</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Reef/coastal management and
restoration</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Marine and coastal management
and restoration</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Deepwater marine
systems</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Dry forest management and
restoration</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Wet forest management and
restoration</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Alpine zone management and
restoration</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Grassland and shrubland
management and restoration</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"> </font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">SUSTAINABILITY</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Estimating sustainable
harvest for animals</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Estimating sustainable
harvest for plants</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Sustainable natural resource
management</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Natural resource
accounting</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">SKILLS IN COMMUNICATING ABOUT
CONSERVATION</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">How to find useful technical
information</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">How to write a scientific
paper or report</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">How to write a proposal for a
research grant</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Useful translations of
conservation terminology</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">How to give a technical
lecture</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">How to make a useful
identification guide</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">How to give an effective
presentation</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Understanding maps, scales
and figures</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">CONSERVATION
EDUCATION</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Educating consumers about
their implications for society and ecology</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Mobility and erosion of a
sense of place</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Discussing human reproduction
and its implications for biodiversity and society Communicating the
value of biodiversity</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Mentoring and
assessment</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Community
outreach/extension</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Partnering with educators to
enhance conservation education</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">CONSERVATION
ORGANIZATIONS</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Conservation organizations:
who they are and what they do</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Elements of effective
conservation organizations</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Leadership</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Managing
personnel</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Ethics and
professionalism</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Strategic
planning</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">How to hold productive
meetings</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Raising funds</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Managing funds</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Generating
publicity</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Building capacity</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Program
evaluation</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"> </font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">CONSERVATION
POLITICS</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">International agreements
pertaining to biodiversity</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Historical precedents for
conservation</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Trends in trade and resource
use change</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Managing the
'commons'</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Country-specific laws
pertaining to biodiversity</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Elements of effective
regulations</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Economic
instruments</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Modes of
governance</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Conflict
resolution</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Organizing
stakeholders</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Property rights</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Politics of community
resource management</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"> </font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">PEDAGOLOGICAL
ISSUES</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" color="#000000">Guidelines for effective use
of these modules</font></div>
<div><font face="Times"
color="#000000">Student-active/inquiry-driven/participato<span
></span>ry teaching techniques</font></div>
<div><font face="Times">Classroom assessment techniques</font></div>
<div><font face="Times"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Times">--</font></div>
<div><font face="Times">Dr. Eleanor J. Sterling</font></div>
<div><font face="Times">Director</font></div>
<div><font face="Times">Center for Biodiversity and
Conservation</font></div>
<div><font face="Times">American Museum of Natural
History</font></div>
<div><font face="Times">Central Park West at 79th St.</font></div>
<div><font face="Times">New York, NY 10024</font></div>
<div><font face="Times">E-mail: biodiversity2@amnh.org</font></div>
<div><font
face="Times">http://research.amnh.org/biodiversity</font></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
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