Research Training Group in Ecological and Social Science Challenges of Conservation

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This award provides funds for the establishment of a Research Training Group in Ecological and Social Science Challenges of Conservation at Cornell University. The faculty group is a mixture of senior and junior investigators who come from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, but share a common interest in the ecological, economic and social aspects of conservation. The funds will provide stipends for graduate students and will defray part of the cost of the trainees' research and of needed technical assistance. In addition, funds will be used to purchase equipment to be used by trainees and to bring investigators from other research and academic institutions to the campus for an annual workshop on conservation. Institutional commitments will allow the participation of additional numbers of graduate students and of undergraduates, and will also defray a portion of the costs of equipment, of technical assistance and of the workshop. One of the serious problems for conservation efforts is the recurring cycle of poverty and environmental degradation found in many regions of the world. Common elements of the cycle are population expansion which stimulates agricultural expansion onto marginal lands, expanded fuelwood requirements, and consequent soil degradation and species extinction. This training program will focus on two contrasting socioecological settings in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica and will make use of existing institutional arrangements and research activities. These activities examine demography and population growth, the interaction of natural and agricultural systems, soil conservation, education and management in biosphere reserves, and related ecology studies.