SCB positions available on the Greek Conservation Biology Summer School

SCB positions available on the Greek Summer School “Conservation Biology in Europe: Building a coherent strategy for the future” to take place in Papingo, Greece, 26 June - 9 July 2011.

There are three places available, details of costs are available on the course website - http://www.cbcd.eu/gss/.

The project “Conservation Biology in Europe: building a coherent strategy for the future” is an ERASMUS Intensive Programme (Erasmus IP), in the field of natural environment and wildlife conservation, funded by the State Scolarship Foundation IKY. University professors from six University Departments in Greece, Denmark, Germany, Italy and UK will combine their expertise to offer a high quality multidisciplinary two-week programme to 15 undergraduate students in the rapidly evolving field of conservation biology.

The program (100h) accounts for 7 ECTS. It includes a theoretical module of lectures and seminars (30h). The module will offer participants a wide spectrum of knowledge that will be also enriched with concrete European paradigms on the most up-to-date environmental issues such as biodiversity loss, GMOs, climate change, eco-services, biodiversity assessment and methods for nature conservation in practice. The module will also integrate the socio-economic and policy dimension in conservation science, directly linking science with European environmental policies. Lectures will be presented in an interactive way using multimedia, including also open discussions and student debates on current environmental issues. The practical module comprises of computer laboratories (6h) and field sessions (45h). These will familiarize students with data analysis and offer them a high-standard of practical field training in situ. The field session will be held in the core area of the Pindos National Park, the largest mountainous Park of Greece and will include a two day mountaineering excursion in the alpine ecosystem (2500m).

The Erasmus IP aims to educate future conservation professionals in a versatile way: gaining field experience and acquiring a deep and multidisciplinary knowledge background on biodiversity conservation. In addition students will further develop personal skills such as team-work, networking and decision making skills, which are required required in the demanding professional life of a conservation biologist. All teaching and supporting materials will be compiled in CD form. Students will have to produce reports, carry out projects and present a written report. The Erasmus IP web page will be the main tool for disseminating information and communicating with participants.

Spotlight on Student Research: A Call for Submissions

As part of the Society for Conservation Biology’s continuing drive to recognize the outstanding research being conducted by student members, the Student Affairs Committee (SAC) in collaboration with the Newsletter Editor is pleased to announce the Spotlight on Student Research. Each issue of the Newsletter will focus on one of our student members (undergrad and postgrad) whose research exemplifies the mission of the Society for Conservation Biology to advance the science and practice of conserving the Earth's biological diversity. This profile will feature details of their research, as well as a broader description of their involvement in conservation biology. Those profiled will be competitively selected by a panel of judges based on the quality of their research and their contribution to conservation efforts. Each issue will showcase a student from one of our regional sections: Africa, Austral and Neotropical America, Australasia, Asia, Europe and North America. Joining a section is free for SCB members, visithttp://www.conbio.org/Sections/ for info.

We encourage all student members to submit an application (for those who are not members, details on joining can be found at https://www.conbio.org/Join/). We also encourage anyone who knows of suitable candidates to pass on details of this opportunity.Applications are continually accepted and should be submitted as an attached document in the format shown here: http://scb-students.wikispaces.com/Student+Spotlight! to scb.student.spotlight@gmail.com with the e-mail subject “spotlight” followed by the section name. We will notify the results by email and the winner student’s research will be profiled on the SCB website and on the SCB newsletter. We will periodically assess all applications from a section and nominate the winner for that section.The first section to be evaluated is Europe (applications collected the 15^th March and winner chosen by 31^st March). The following section will be Oceania (applications collected 15^th June and winner chosen by 30^th June). The subsequent order is to be defined. We will accept the following formats: Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, Word Perfect, Plain Text, Rich Text Format (rtf). Both text and figures of the submission should be in a single document.

Piero Visconti chair Student Affairs Subcommittee

Nora Bynum chair Education and Student Affairs Committee

Luigi Boitani president of SCB