The Applied Biodiversity Science Program (ABS) are a community of scholars on campus, connecting with each other across departments, disciplines, interests, and backgrounds to discuss research and practice related to conservation.
Since 2007, we’ve been hosting classes, seminars, journal clubs, retreats, happy hours, small grants programs, collaborative research, and a certificate program, all focused on the paramount, complex, and interconnected challenges of sustaining biodiversity and supporting human well-being on the planet.
Vision
The vision of Applied Biodiversity Science (ABS) is to achieve integration between biodiversity research and on-the-ground conservation practices.
Three pillars support the program:
- integrated research in biological and social sciences;
- cross-disciplinary research and collaboration with conservation institutions and actors in the field;
- application of conservation theory to practice
Research teams of faculty mentors and students, in collaboration with international partners, will develop complementary dissertations related to two research themes: (A) Ecological Functions and Biodiversity; and (B) Communities and Governance. The ABS Program produces scientists prepared to understand ecological functions of local ecosystems, and also the activities and needs of surrounding communities in wider social, economic, and political contexts.
Original funding proposal (pdf)