Summary of 1st cohort of CCC Fellows (2009-2010)
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In February, 2009, the Center for Collaborative Conservation awarded 17 fellowships which form the first cohort of CCC Fellows. These fellows include 11 graduate students, 3 faculty members and 3 conservation practitioners (undergraduates will work with some of these fellows this year). The Fellows are from 6 nations around the globe (and working in 3 more) and represent 6 departments and 3 colleges at Colorado State University, and 3 NGO’s doing conservation work in Colorado, South Dakota and Africa. They are working on problems as diverse as marine conservation in the Philippines, to pasture management in Mongolia, to elephant-people conflicts in Tanzania. In Colorado, four fellows are working on better understanding how collaboratives work and how they can work better through using both market and non-market-based incentives for conservation.
The following are descriptions of each of the 1st cohort of CCC Fellows:
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Arren Mendezona Allegretti
Arren is completing her Master’s and starting work on her PhD in the Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, CSU, working with Dr. Stu Cottrell, Dr. Jerry Vaske, and Dr. Jes Thompson. Her fellowship research aims to understand fishermen’s perceptions of conflict and coastal resource management policies in Southern Cebu, Philippines. She is collaborating with the local governments of three municipalities, the Coastal Conservation Education foundation, and a network of Marine Protected Area (MPA) managers that belong to the Southeast Cebu Coastal Management Council (SCCRMC). The overall goal of her research is to incorporate and improve social monitoring in coastal resource management programs in the Philippines.
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Batkhishig Baival
Batkhishig is a PhD candidate in the Department of Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Stewardship at CSU working with Dr. Maria Fernandez-Gimenez. Her graduate research and fellowship project were conducted in four different herding communities of Mongolia to analyze the relationship between community-based rangeland management (CBRM) and the social-ecological resilience of pastoral Mongolian communities.
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Adam Beh
Adam is a PhD candidate in the Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources at CSU working with Dr. Brett Bruyere. For his fellowship Adam explored the proper learning environments that need to be cultivated in order to develop a conservation education curriculum in Samburu, northern Kenya, thorough a Photovoice project. The Samburu Photovoice Project allowed 26 photographers from Samburu National Reserve, Kalama and West Gate Community Wildlife Conservancies and local communities to identify the way forward for conservation on their lands. Their collective conservation vision has been shared with international audiences in Kenya and the United States.
Click here to see Adam's fellowship product: a report on the Samburu Photovoice Project.
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Ashley Cobb
Ashley completed her Master’s degree in the Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources at CSU with Dr. Jes Thompson during the term of her CCC fellowship. For her fellowship she evaluated the collaborative process of scenario planning as applied to climate change management initiatives in the National Park Service and other land management agencies. Ashley explored how scientists and managers negotiated the uncertainty and complexity of climate change impacts on protected areas. She studied the application of different collaborative tools such as scenario planning and situation mapping to understand how different organizations and individuals can work together to promote adaptation in environmental management.
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Esther Duke
Esther recently defended her Master’s thesis in the Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources at CSU, working with Dr. Josh Goldstein. For her fellowship, she used collaborative processes to engage government, non-profit, and agricultural communities in exploring the potential for a payment for ecosystem services (PES) program to deliver conservation and livelihood outcomes in the buffer zone of La Amistad Bi-national World Heritage Site in Western Panama. The resulting research also contributes to a key social consideration in the design of PES: how to proactively explore ways to ensure that landowners across the socioeconomic spectrum, including particularly the poor, are able to participate in PES.
Click here for more information on Esther's fellowship work in Panama.
See also Esther's report on Upper Green River Basin Ecosystem Services - Feasibilty Analysis and Project Report.
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Josh Goldstein
Josh is an assistant professor in the Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources at CSU whose research and teaching focus on ecosystem services and conservation finance. For his CCC fellowship, he worked with ranchers and other stakeholders in northern Colorado to explore ways to develop business models that align conservation and economic incentives for working ranches and their communities. This project has led to efforts to develop payment for ecosystem services programs in northern Colorado and elsewhere across the Rocky Mountain region.
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Ed Iron Cloud
Ed is a board member and bison caretaker of the Knife Chief Buffalo Nation Project at the Pine Ridge Reservation in Porcupine, South Dakota, where he has lived his whole life. He is also the South Dakota State Representative for District 27. Ed is working on a community-based initiative, the mission of which is to strengthen the connection between the Lakota people and the buffalo. Historically, the Lakota people practiced collaboration as a way of life, and understood the importance of the concept of conservationism. Due to historical events that have created a “disconnect” from teachings, a revitalization of these beliefs and practices must occur and Ed’s project will create a resource for this. Ed is producing a pictorial with narrative on the role of the Buffalo Nation in the Lakota spiritual and cultural ceremonies with emphasis on their role in conservationism according to the Lakota perspective to be used in schools, colleges, universities and for community presentations. He is collaborating with Village Earth, youth from Pine Ridge Reservation, and traditional healers and elders to complete this project.
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Jeff Jones
Jeff is the Executive Director and founder of The Conservation Cooperative (TCC), a Colorado non-profit corporation. As part of his fellowship he developed and implemented a four-day short course for conservation practitioners and students entitled ‘Private Land Conservation Law and Policy.’ The course was held at CSU in August, 2009. Jeff also spearheaded a field-based conservation planning short-course for non-specialists for September 2010.
Click here to see Jeff's fellowship product: a handbook for Common Questions on Conservation Easements.
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Sarah Maisonneuve
Sarah is a PhD student in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology at CSU, working with Dr. Mike Coughenour. Her CCC fellowship involved producing films and written reports for local villagers and village leaders in the Greater Ruaha Ecosystem of Tanzania describing the general behavioral ecology of elephants, as well as the landscape ecology of the conflict and potential mitigation strategies which may be employed to manage it. These activities inspired the development of her current project, known as the Ruaha National Park visitation program, the aim of which is to continue bridging the disconnect which local people experience between themselves and wildlife by providing local people with regular opportunities to visit and learn about the park, and to measure the influence of these visits on identification of Ruaha National Park as a locally valuable resource.
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David Ole Nkedianye
David is a founding Director of the Reto O Reto Foundation in Kitengela, Kenya, which aims to link research with local pastoral livelihoods and conservation. For his fellowship, David facilitated linkages among Maasai communities and conservation organizations to enhance mutual participation in conservation, while exploring innovative and sustainable ways of generating revenue for local households and conserving the environment. David continues to work at the interface of pastoral communities, research and conservation organizations, and policy makers to enhance understanding of problems affecting livelihoods and sustainability, especially in the dry lands of East Africa.
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Patti Biddle Orth
Patti is a PhD candidate in the Department of Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Stewardship at CSU, working with Dr. Tony Cheng. As collaborative approaches to solving complex natural resource problems and their role in natural resource planning continue to proliferate, it is essential that collaborative efforts be evaluated to ensure the most efficient and effective uses of scarce resources. For her fellowship Patti collaborated with conservation practitioners to develop an evaluation procedure utilizing criteria and indicators for determining the progress and success of collaboratives in Colorado.
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Liba Pejchar
Liba is an assistant professor in the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology at CSU whose research focuses on “win-win” opportunities for biodiversity and livelihoods. For her fellowship, Liba is working with public and private landowners in Hawaii to understand the seed dispersal services that native birds provide and their role in restoring understory fruiting plants for conservation and Hawaiian cultural practices. She is working closely with a graduate student, Susan Culliney, to feed the endangered Hawaiian Crow native fruits, to document the fruits they consume and to outplant the resulting seedlings at potential crow reintroduction sites. Liba and Susan are also collaborating with Brett Bruyere (Human Dimensions of Natural Resources) to understand how local communities value the crow and could be partners in forest conservation.
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Joana Roque de Pinho
Joana is a PhD graduate from the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology at CSU, working with Dr. Kathy Galvin. Joana explored the coexistence of Kenyan Maasai pastoralists and wildlife from cultural, cognitive and economic perspectives. Her fellowship involved carrying out a Photovoice project that put cameras in the hands of Maasai volunteers to document their interactions with wildlife, conservation and drought, and has led to multiple art exhibits in Fort Collins, Colorado. She also co-produced and co-directed a documentary film on the project's Photovoice process and outcomes, entitled " Through our Eyes: a Maasai Photographic Journey". She is currently a post-doctoral researcher at Instituto de Ciencias Sociais e Politicas, in Lisbon, Portugal, carrying out cognitive anthropology research in Guinea-Bissau.
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Aleta Rudeen
Aleta received her Master’s degree with Dr. Maria Fernandez-Gimenez in the Department of Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Stewardship, CSU. For her fellowship she studied the roles of communication, conflict and science in natural resource collaboration. Her current position is in outreach and leadership development with the Society for Range Management.
Click here to see Aleta's Master's thesis: The Roles of Science, Conflict and Consensus in Natural Resource Collaboration: Lessons from an Inactive Collaborative Group.
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Heidi Steltzer
Heidi is on the faculty of the Biology Dept., Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO (formerly of the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, CSU). She is assessing the biological consequences of earlier snowmelt as a result of desert dust deposition in alpine landscapes. For her fellowship she collaborated with the Mountain Studies Institute, Silverton, CO to create visualizations of Rocky Mountain alpine landscape seasonality in 2020 based on continued high levels of dust deposition to share with local residents for use in decision-making.
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April Wackerman
April completed her Master’s degree in Construction Management with an emphasis in Sustainable Building at CSU, working with Dr. Mary Nobe. She explored the process of paradigm shifts in order to understand how to facilitate paradigm shifts in the construction industry more effectively. Her research is informing the development of a process guide called LENSES (Living Environments in Natural, Social, and Economic Systems) used to foster a living systems approach to the design, construction and operations of buildings with Brian Dunbar and his team at the Institute for the Built Environment at CSU (http://ibe.colostate.edu/).
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George Foster, Intern
George is a recent graduate from the Human Dimensions of Natural Resources Department. George was an undergraduate intern with CCC Graduate Fellow Adam Beh (first cohort) in identifying perceptions of conservation issues by local people in the Samburu region of Kenya. He completed his degree in Environmental Communication in December 2009, and plans to pursue international conservation work in the near future.
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Adam Miller, Intern
Adam is a sophomore majoring in Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology working as an undergraduate intern for CCC fellows Esther Duke and Dr. Liba Pejchar (first cohort). Adam first interned with Esther, assisting with data entry and information management duties on her project linking conservation and farmer livelihoods through payments for ecosystem services in Western Panama. He also developed his own project titled Panamanian Coffee Exchange (PCE) building off of Esther’s fellowship. In Fall 2010 he will be helping Liba and her graduate student, Susan Culliney, with research on Hawaiian forest birds and their role in dispersing seeds and restoring understory fruiting plants which have ecological, economic and cultural value. Adam’s long-term goal is to be a conservation biologist who collects scientific information in ways that support natural and human communities.
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Lindsay Simpson, Intern
Lindsay is a recent CSU graduate who double-majored in Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology and Technical Journalism. She worked as an undergraduate intern with Joana Roque de Pinho (first cohort). Her main role in the project was to document in video all the steps of Joana's Photovoice project with Maasai volunteers in southern Kenya. Once stateside, she collaborated with Joana to write the framework for a short documentary on the project, which she then edited. Lindsay also assisted with training project participants in photography, documentary advertising and presenting the project at the 2009 CCC "Bridging the Gap" conference. The collaboration culminated in the creation of the documentary film "Through our Eyes: a Maasai Photographic Journey", currently being submitted to film festivals. Lindsay's footage has also been used as part of the Maasai Photovoice photo exhibits in the CSU Morgan Library and at Valhall Arts in Fort Collins.
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