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Come research with McDowell Sonoran Conservancy Field Institute

March 29, 2016

Bird on branchThe McDowell Sonoran Field Institute has just announced their 2016-2017 Graduate Fellowship. The Field Institute Director, Helen Rowe, will discuss the fellowship, the priority research areas, and ways you can collaborate on Monday, April 5, from 12:00-1:00 p.m. The talk will take place in ISTB1, Room 301, and both faculty and students are welcome. No RSVP is required.

 

ASU students pursue biodiversity solutions in the global south

March 29, 2016

Two dolphins jumping through waves in the oceanBiodiversity describes the plethora of different species on the Earth, as well as the ecosystems that they create and sustain. Humans couldn’t survive without a biodiverse planet, simply because the ecosystems we rely on only function due to the interactions of all these different species. In many cases, we don’t know exactly how a single species fits into the web of ecosystem functions; we do know that once a species goes extinct, there’s no going back.

The Center for Biodiversity Outcomes (CBO) is one of Arizona State University’s newest endeavors to conserve biodiversity around the world, through research, natural resource management and education. In terms of education, the center is one of several ASU programs now working with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to connect student researchers with partners in the global south to address conservation challenges.

“We are delighted to collaborate with the USAID program to provide our students with hands-on practical conservation development research,” says CBO director Leah Gerber.

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Summer Job Opportunity: Northern Mexican Gartersnake Research Aide

March 29, 2016

Coiled snake on bed of leavesApplications for summer employment as a  Northern Mexican Gartersnake Research Aide are due April 1, 2016. The successful applicant will be a graduate or a senior level undergraduate student. The research aide will assist in data collection, including radio telemetry, repair of traps, vegetation measurements and data entry. Be prepared for difficult field conditions (hot temperatures, thick vegetation, long hours, etc.).

To apply, visit ASU's Student Employment page and search for Requisition ID 21256BR.

Conservation biology students launch Nature@ASU

View Source | March 28, 2016

Waterfall in a lush tropical forestA group of ASU undergraduate and graduate students has created an extensive resource dedicated to enhancing the experience of future conservation biologists and showing them the range of career options in the field.

Nature@ASU, which launches in fall 2016, will feature five components: a mentorship program; an internship finder; a job-mining component; high school outreach; and a website.

Sharon Hall, associate director of education and diversity at the Center for Biodiversity Outcomes and a senior sustainability scientist, will serve as Nature@ASU's faculty adviser. She explains that though conservation biology careers are numerous, they are often unclear to high school students and their parents.

The is where the Center for Biodiversity Outcomes will play a supporting role, helping Nature@ASU create a hub for conservation biology engagement.

McDowell Sonoran Conservancy Biodiversity Fellowship

March 24, 2016

mcdowell-sonoran-biodiversity-fellowshipOne graduate student will be offered the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy Biodiversity Fellowship for the 2016-2017 academic year in the amount of $6,000. The recipient will conduct research that will address high-priority natural resource management questions that have been identified by the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy Field Institute.  In addition to monetary assistance, the Field Institute can also provide trained citizen scientists to assist in field work.

Click here for information on how to apply.

Maximizing species recovery with limited resources

March 15, 2016

Group of smiling researchersOn Friday, March 25, and Monday, March 28, 2016, the Center for Biodiversity Outcomes will host decision scientists Richard Maloney, New Zealand Department of Conservation; Gwen Iacona, University of Queensland, Australia; and Stephanie Avery-Gomm, University of Queensland, Australia.

Part of CBO's Biodiversity Series, a seminar titled "Five important things needed to spend money efficiently on saving threatened species" will be held on March 28 in Wrigley Hall, Room 481 – ASU Tempe campus – from 1:30-3:00 p.m. It will address the decision-making processes designed to maximize species recovery with limited resources at regional and national levels.

CBO, in conjunction with the featured scientists, are collaborating with the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service to address resource challenges regarding the protection and recovery of endangered species.

If you would like to talk with Dr. Maloney, Dr. Iacona or Dr. Avery-Gomm on Friday, March 25, contact Anita Hagy Ferguson at Anita.Hagyferguson@asu.edu to schedule a meeting time.

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ASU researcher proposes endangered species triage

View Source | March 15, 2016

asu-biodiversity-endangered-speciesThe agencies involved in implementing the Endangered Species Act have difficult choices to make regarding which species and actions are of the highest priority.

Of the 1,125 currently listed species under the Endangered Species Act, 50% still have declining populations or are high risk for extinction, with 800 additional species that must be considered by 2018. Listing species under the act is assumed to promote recovery, yet for this to be successful, conservation actions must be taken post-listing and adequate funding must be allocated. Currently only approximately 12% of listed species receive the recommended funding.

CBO Director Leah Gerber proposes that reallocating funds from species with budget surplus to offset funding deficits for underfunded species could support recovery for 180 species. The full publication in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences can be accessed here.

Read more on the paper in Science InsiderClimate Progress, The Wildlife Society, 91.5 KJZZ,  Wired and Global Possibilities.

Women of Color STEM Entrepreneurship Conference

View Source | March 8, 2016

save the date event flier for the conferenceOn May 20-22, 2016, ASU hosts The National STEM Collaborative as they present the inaugural Women of Color STEM Entrepreneurship Conference entitled The New Normal: Women of Color Innovations and Achievements through STEM Entrepreneurship.

The conference will celebrate women in STEM through panel discussions, keynote speakers and interactive workshops aimed to promote engagement in entrepreneurial opportunities and entrepreneurship education.

This conference supports the Center for Biodiversity Outcome’s mission of broadening diversity in biodiversity science by engaging underserved youth and providing basic literacy and mentorship in environmental and ecological sustainability, with the goal of supporting transition into successful and impactful careers in conservation science and policy.

CBO Employment Opportunity - Business Operations Specialist

March 5, 2016

center for biodiversity outcomes logoCBO is looking for a Business Operations Specialist to join our team. The Business Operations Specialist will provide office management, finance, HR, communications, events, administrative, project and program operations support for the Center. We encourage interested and qualified individuals to apply HERE.

Biodiversity exhibit a hit at ASU's Night of the Open Door

March 3, 2016

smiling students helping kids with science experimentsOn Saturday, February 27, 2016, the Center for Biodiversity Outcomes participated in ASU’s Night of the Open Door. CBO student workers and volunteers designed a table where enthusiastic guests classified plants, animals, and people to one of three habitats: the African Savannah, Galapagos, or Yellowstone. This activity engaged motor skills, memory, and abstract thinking. Prizes were awarded for effort.

Volunteer graduate student Leigh-Ann Tower reflects, “I was so happy to have other workers come up to me throughout the night, curious about the fun, interesting activity that they heard all the kids talking about. Music to my ears! I could not be more pleased with the outcome.

Addressing the need for ecological expertise in business

View Source | February 4, 2016

marriage-business-ecology-asuEcologists who are motivated to achieve real impact in nature conservation should consider engaging with the corporate sector, according to an editorial in the February 2016 issue of the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

The authors - including sustainability scientists Leah Gerber and Sheila Bonini - contend that there is a high demand from the corporate sector for ecological science. Businesses are beginning to see the world’s economic and ecological systems as they are – inextricable. They are realizing that maintaining the natural resources upon which their operations depend ensures their long-term viability, and that failing to do so is costly.

But right now, the authors say, businesses do not have adequate access to the ecological expertise and data they need to properly price nature. Efforts like those by The Sustainability Consortium – which translates sustainability life-cycle analysis into practical business tools used by Walmart and other leading consumer-goods companies – and ASU's Center for Biodiversity Outcomes need to be increased.

The authors stress that, in meeting the need for their expertise in the corporate sector, ecologists can make a strong contribution to addressing the complex sustainability challenges we face.

Center for Biodiversity Outcomes to lead events at 2016 World Conservation Congress 

February 3, 2016

world-conservation-congress-hawaiiThree Arizona State University faculty and Center for Biodiversity Outcomes affiliates will be leading events at the September 2016 International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress in Hawaii. Their proposals were among those selected from a field of nearly 1,500 submitted for consideration after review by at least three independent technical reviewers.

Leaders on the selected proposals are Penny Langhammer, adjunct professor in the School of Life Sciences and a faculty affiliate of the center; Beth Polidoro, assistant professor in the School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences and IUCN project lead for the center; and Candice Carr Kelman, assistant director of the School of Sustainability. Both Polidoro and Carr Kelman are also senior sustainability scientists in the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability.

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Sustainability Solutions Festival: (re)imagine our Home!

January 30, 2016

Landscape view of sunset with two wind mills over green pastureArizona will once again be on the spotlight as it hosts the Fourth Sustainability Solutions Festival, organized by ASU Walton Sustainability Solution Initiatives. Everyone is invited to the #Sustival to participate and discover the planet’s top sustainability events and organizations, from February 3-25, 2017.

This year’s theme is “(re)imagine our Home!” The festival includes conferences and activities that convene leaders in sustainability theory and practice and community gatherings for all ages at multiple locations. A full schedule is available here.

New tool helps corporations apply analytics to water use

View Source | January 22, 2016

asu-water-decision-toolASU's Center for Biodiversity Outcomes is behind a revolutionary tool unveiled at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, held in Paris in December 2015, and now piquing the interest of major corporations.

The Green Infrastructure Support Tool was developed by Senior Sustainability Scientist John Sabo - affiliated faculty in the Center for Biodiversity Outcomes - and helps corporations apply analytics to their water use, simultaneously supporting water conservation, habitat restoration and the bottom line.

Dow Chemical is now considering implementation of the tool at its Texas operations on the Brazos River. Here, there are many places where wetlands can be restored, but only a few that are economically viable and will better meet Dow's bottom line. Finding where it would be best to invest in green infrastructure is what the tool does.

The development of the tool was made possible through a partnership with Earth Genome - a nonprofit with the goal to enable key institutions to account for natural capital in decision-making.

Summer 2016 internships available with Arizona Game and Fish

December 15, 2015

Students in the School of Life Sciences looking toward careers in wildlife biology or management take note of a new opportunity: Paid summer internships with the Arizona Game and Fish (AGF) department in 2016.

AGF manages Arizona’s fish and wildlife resources, and promotes safe and responsible use of watercraft and off-highway vehicles.

Interns can expect to gain hands-on practical work experience working alongside a diverse group of AGF professionals. In the past, interns have:

  • Helped with radio tracking and collecting pronghorn antelope field data,
  • Conducted habitat assessments at squirrel use sites as part of a habitat selection study, and
  • Learned skills in electro fishing and gill netting.

Applications are due January 22, and eligible students can apply online; however, interested students from the School of Life Sciences must first meet with Mike Demlong, the AGF department liaison to the school.

Demlong will host two special career-counseling sessions to help students meet the school's application requirement before deadline submission:

  • Thursday, Jan. 14  from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in LSC 278
  • Wednesday, Jan. 20 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in LSC 278

AGF internship eligibility requirements and additional information available here.

Additional information about meeting with the AGF liaison here.

CBO researcher part of effort to set standard for identifying areas of significance to global biodiversity

December 10, 2015

Penny Langhammer, CBO research affiliate and ASU adjunct professor of biology in the School of Life Sciences, travels the world to help develop an international standard for the identification of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs).

Langhammer serves as co-chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Joint Task Force on Biodiversity and Protected Areas, which is working to establish criteria to identify sites (KBAs) that contribute significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity.

Her insights on the IUCN project were featured in a recent article in ASU Now.

Global sustainability experts to convene at World Business Council on Sustainable Development event Dec. 7-10 in Paris

December 1, 2015

On Dec. 7, members of the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD) gather in Paris for three days to discuss global solutions for addressing climate change, sustainable development and energy.

The event focuses on four key action areas, which include achieving Sustainable Development Goals, launched by the United Nations in 2015; and Redefining Value, a global effort by WBCSD and its partners to lead the development of protocol and processes to incorporate social and natural capital into business decision-making.

The four-day event also brings together members of the WBCSD's Water Cluster group for a session featuring:

  • The launch of the Natural Infrastructure for Business platform,
  • A demonstration of the Green Infrastructure opportunity screening tool by the Earth Genome and
  • An overview of WBCSD water tools family.

CBO is involved in projects specific to the Water Cluster group and WBCSD action areas, specifically:

  • Development of a data-driven decision support tool for corporate decision-making in water use, and
  • Collaboration with organizational partners on ways to centralize access to biodiversity data and create methods for integrating data into corporate risk-management protocols.

Members from the global organization's Ecosystems, Forest Solutions and Water teams also plan to discuss opportunities to promote WBCSD goals during the IUCN 2016 World Congress in Hawaii.

More information about the Paris WBCSD Council Meeting here.

Information about the WBCSD here.

Apply by Dec. 1 to be part of a Center for Biodiversity Outcomes research project underway in Brazil

November 17, 2015

USAID has awarded new scholarship funding to ASU’s Global Development Research Scholar program for students to engage with biodiversity projects in Brazil.

Biodiversity projects led by CBO faculty affiliates and partner organizations are among new opportunities that are part of the “Targeting Brazil Biodiversity for Research and Innovation Fellowships at ASU” initiative and a chance for students to be involved in important conservation work as a part of their graduate student experience. Scholarships are available through ASU’s GDR program with USAID, and students must apply by December 1 for consideration.

Current CBO-affiliated projects in Brazil in need of student scholars are varied and challenging:

  • Researching the history and impact of biofuels innovations
  • Addressing hydro-social environmental impact of sugarcane production on land-use food security
  • Surveying tiger beetle taxonomy/conservation and use as bio-indicators and crop pest control
  • Understanding resource and land management issues related to cement and iron miners of RESEX
  • Researching conservation issues related to river dolphins, particularly the Amazon River dolphin
  • Surveying conservation issues related to the Franciscana dolphin

Duties for fellows assigned to the projects include:

  • Providing technical and programmatic support to partner communities and the USAID mission in Brazil, generating subsidies for environmental assessment and monitoring through diversity
  • Determining the impact on biodiversity due to human activities,
  • Working with CBO and CBO faculty affiliates and working as a CBO ambassador to strengthen CBO and ASU’s partnerships with Brazilian organizations,
  • Qualifying and improving specialized human resources trainings in the Amazon regional to meet regional demand,
  • Disseminating research findings and
  • Establishing new relationships with diverse entities that foster future collaborations.

For a detailed list of project opportunities available, contact gdrscholars@asu.edu and visit the GDR website for information on how to apply.

Application deadline is December 1, 2015.

 

SNAP adds KBA-focused CBO working group to its roster

November 17, 2015

The National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis recently awarded CBO funding from the Science for Nature and People (SNAP) program to support a working group led by lead investigators from the IUCN, the ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes and the Wildlife Conservation Society.

The working group will focus on simplifying and stimulating the “routine documentation and assessment of the ecosystem services and human well-being benefits delivered by Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) as they are identified by national and local organizations.” KBAs are areas of particular global biodiversity importance to achieve biodiversity outcomes. The group intends to make the data available publicly through platforms such as the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT) in order to support improved environmental decision-making by both the public and private sectors, thereby achieving biodiversity outcomes.

Principal investigators of the group include CBO director Leah Gerber and CBO affiliate researcher Penny Langhammer.

Learn more about SNAP working groups here.

IUCN to hold 2016 World Conservation Congress in Hawaii

November 12, 2015

The International Union for Conservation of Nature Council has announced plans to hold the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii next year, making it the first time the event will take place in the U.S. The event is scheduled for September 1-10, 2016.

Every four years, leaders from government, the public sector, non-governmental organizations, business, U.N. agencies, and indigenous and grass-roots organizations come together at the congress to develop and advance solutions to many of the world’s most pressing environmental and development challenges. More information about the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress here.

The Center for Biodiversity Outcomes works with the IUCN on several fronts and is currently developing a formal partnership with the IUCN Red List. CBO has partnered with IUCN to pilot the new Key Biodiversity Standard, which assesses areas of significant global biodiversity importance. CBO researcher Penny Langhammer leads this effort and serves as lead author for the KBA standard. The project receives support from NCEAS Science and Nature for People (SNAP). CBO also works with the Joint Species Survival Commission/World Commission on Protected Areas and the National Marine Fisheries Service, and provides support to a faculty affiliate to coordinate and lead CBO’s IUCN-related activities and communications.