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October 9, 2017
The ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes continues to grow, welcoming three new team members—two postdoctoral research associates in partnership with Conservation International and an associate director in partnership with the ASU Center for Organization Research and Design.
October 7, 2017
On October 4, 2017, Conservation International Scientist Allie Goldstein visited ASU to facilitate a talk titled “Companies and Climate Change: A Role for Nature?”
During one of the talks, a small, but engaged, group of students and faculty discussed companies’ resilience to recent natural disasters and the potential for nature-based solutions to offer cost-effective ways to increase resilience. In the wake of domestic natural disasters, such as Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, these discussions are all the more relevant.
To learn more about the presentation, click here.
October 4, 2017
On October 3, 2017, the ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes co-sponsored a semi-annual event with the Center for Gender Equity in Science and Technology (CGEST) designed to bring together all female center directors within ASU.
This event, hosted by US law firm Quarles & Brady under Nicole Stanton’s leadership, saw 20 ASU female center directors discuss the opportunities and challenges women face in aspiring to positions of leadership. The event was attended by faculty, students, staff and lawyers. Take the Lead Executive Director Gloria Feldt led the discussion, which was moderated by CGEST Director Kimberly Scott and Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Associate Director of Social Science Abigail York.
September 20, 2017
New ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Associate Research Professor Samantha Cheng recently published a paper titled “Delivering on seafood traceability under the new U.S. import monitoring program.”
The U.S. is the world’s largest fish importer. However, recent reports indicate that 25-30% of wild-caught seafood imported into the U.S. is illegally caught, raising concern for the country’s role in driving unregulated fishing.
View Source | September 20, 2017
The ASU Center for Gender Equity in Science and Technology will be hosting an ASU Female Center Directors’ Convening on Tuesday, October 3 from 5:00-6:30 p.m. in Phoenix.
The intention of the event is to strengthen community partnerships, to facilitate dialogues across disciplines and borders and to leverage practical, gender-equity work beyond academe.
September 20, 2017
ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Founding Director Leah Gerber recently published a paper titled “Innovative financing for the High Seas,” along with co-author Torsten Thiele, of London School of Economics.
The publication is part of a special issue emerging from a session on innovative financing mechanisms to achieve the United Nation’s Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals, during the 2016 International Union for Conservation of Nature World Conservation Congress session in Honolulu, Hawai’i.
September 20, 2017
On September 15, 2017, Edwin Castellanos, PhD, Professor and Director of the Center for Environmental Studies and Biodiversity at the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, visited ASU to deliver a talk titled “No Need for Persuasion: Evidence of Mesoamerica’s Changing Climate.”
Castellanos has researched adaptation and mitigation to climate change in Guatemala for the past 20 years. He was a lead author in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report on climate change for the chapter on Central and South America.
View Source | September 14, 2017
In August 2015, the ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Founding Director Leah Gerber and graduate student affiliate Beth Tellman from the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning organized a panel titled “Expanding diversity in the next generation of ecology.” This event attracted dozens of minority students who have led a paper just out in Science titled “Without inclusion, diversity initiatives might not be enough.”
Fewer young people are pursuing conservation science degrees and working in their professions after graduation – even as platforms to increase diversity persist. What is behind this disconnect?
September 10, 2017
On September 6, 2017, ASU-Conservation International Professor of Practice Jack Kittinger and Postdoctoral Research Associate Elena Finkbeiner facilitated a presentation on recent findings from sustainability science that are helping transform coastal fisheries.
August 24, 2017
Dr. Beth Polidoro, Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Deputy Director, was recently awarded $195,837 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Debris Program to implement a screening-level ecological risk assessment for microplastics in American Samoa.
August 9, 2017
ASU-Conservation International Professor of Practice, Dr. Jorge Ahumada, recently published a paper in Biological Reviews titled “Building essential biodiversity variables (EBVs) of species distribution and abundance at a global scale.”
The study assesses some of the challenges of developing a large, global database focused on species distribution and abundance. It proposes eleven workflow steps to operationalize this process while offering concrete examples from existing projects, including the TEAM Network.
August 8, 2017
ASU-Conservation International Professor of Practice, Dr. Jack Kittinger, recently published a paper in PLoS ONE titled “Follow that fish: Uncovering the hidden blue economy in coral reef fisheries.”
The study sheds light on the economic and social value of small-scale coral reef fisheries in Hawai’i with the intention to incentivize sustainability efforts in the region.
Although human well-being depends greatly on nearshore fisheries, these natural resources are often undervalued. Insufficient data exists to support effective policy and development programs.
“This work is the result of a three-year effort to assess the value chain in coral reef fisheries and is one of the four publications that are forthcoming from this project,” explained Kittinger.
Kittinger et al., estimate the economic value of Hawaiian coral reef fisheries at $10.3-$16.4 million, providing over $7 million annually in meals.
August 4, 2017
Affiliated graduate students, Maria del Mar Mancha-Cisneros and Ute Brady, attended the 16th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC) to develop a set of standard variables for social-ecological systems (SES) that facilitates more effective and sustainable conservation outcomes.
The conference took place in July 2017 in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Mancha-Cisneros and Brady organized the interdisciplinary panel as part of a collaboration between the ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes (CBO) and the Center for Behavior, Institutions, and the Environment (CBIE).
August 1, 2017
In July 2017, a delegation of the ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes faculty, professors of practice, postdoctoral research associates and students attended the Partnerships for Conservation workshop sponsored by the International Congress for Conservation Biology in Cartagena, Colombia.
During the meeting, attendees from the center and Conservation International (CI) exchanged ideas following scientific presentations. Samantha Cheng, the center’s new Associate Director of Conservation Evidence, launched a new tool called Colandr, a computer-assisted program for conducting evidence synthesis, as part of the Science for Nature and People Partnership. Founding Director Leah Gerber contributed to the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions International Advisory Board.
View Source | July 31, 2017
Nancy Grimm, ASU School of Life Sciences professor and Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Affiliate Faculty, was recently named a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union. This recognition is awarded to individuals who have made exceptional contributions in the field.
“It is an honor to join such a great group,” Grimm said. “I am thrilled to be recognized for my contributions and am grateful to all the terrific students, postdocs and colleagues I’ve worked with over the years for helping shape those contributions.”
Congratulations Professor Grimm!
July 24, 2017
Tod Swanson is a Center for Biodiversity Outcomes (CBO) Faculty Affiliate and Professor in The School of History Philosophy and Religious Studies. He studies language of indigenous people and how language co-evolves with the relationship between people and nature.
Tod grew up in Ecuador and married a woman from a small native community found on the banks of the Napo River in the Amazon jungle. Tod and his extensive Ecuadorian family speak Spanish when they have to, but their native tongue is Kichwa, one of several indigenous languages in Amazonia. The family owns a 600 hectare reserve of rainforest, where they operate the Andes and Amazon Field School.
July 19, 2017
The ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes (CBO) and Conservation International (CI) unveiled a video featuring CBO’s Distinguished Professor of Practice and CI’s new CEO, M. Sanjayan, describing the transformational potential of the ASU-CI Knowledge Partnership during his ASU visit in May 2017.
In the video, Sanjayan explains that “This partnership will help us answer that fundamental question—how do we live on this planet without exhausting the resources we all need to survive?”
June 27, 2017
During the last week of July 2017, ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Founding Director, Leah Gerber, will represent academia in Cartagena, Colombia during an International Congress for Conservation Biology workshop titled “Partnerships for Conservation.”
Our planet will be populated by 9.7 billion by 2050, but the current 7 billion have already taxed its capacity to provide for us. To advance conservation and nature-based solutions that achieve impact at scale requires a broad range of actions and participation by government, the private sector, donors, communities, NGOs and academia.
June 27, 2017
ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Founding Director, Leah Gerber is heading to Ecuador for the 2017-18 academic year as a Fulbright Scholar.
Ecuador is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. At present, approximately 36% of the country’s mainland is designated as “Key Biodiversity Areas” by the United Nation’s World Conservation and Monitoring Center.
View Source | June 27, 2017
On May 5, 2017, ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Founding Director, Leah Gerber, partnered with the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center to present the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials with a new tool for prioritizing recovery actions.
The plan, based on an algorithm specifically created for the United States, proposes to save as many as 200 additional species by tapping into funds currently allocated to save more iconic species, whose populations have decreased regardless of the millions of dollars invested to save them.
This proposal, already proven effective in New Zealand and Australia, is most timely as the Trump administration plans to reduce the budgets of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior, which oversees USFWS.
