International Conservation & Development

Fellow Story

Krupnik on farmers' preferences for weather-indexed crop insurance

Theoretically, weather-index insurance is an effective risk reduction option for small-scale farmers in low income countries. Renewed policy and donor emphasis on bridging gender gaps in development also emphasizes the potential social safety net benefits that weather-index insurance could bring to women farmers who are disproportionately vulnerable to climate change risk and have low adaptive capacity.
May 25, 2016
Fellow Story

The Real Threat to Europe’s Last Primeval Forest: Bark Beetles or Undemocratic Politicians?

Fellow Eunice Blavascunas pleads on behalf of the threatened Białowieża Forest in Poland, which is both a national treasure and a global gem of biodiversity.
May 24, 2016
Fellow Story

O'Leary featured regarding Kenya's ivory burn

Cal Poly Professor Jennifer O’Leary is an honorary warden for the Kenya Wildlife Service and told KCBX that Kenya is doing well on controlling the act of poaching, but the area still serves as a hub for ivory transport and trade. "Kenya is really against poaching of elephants and has taken huge efforts to find and confiscate that ivory, and that's really where this ivory comes from," said O'Leary. Read more
May 20, 2016
Fellow Story

Hoyt's research on white-nose syndrome in bats receives international coverage

Researchers have found new clues about the deadly white-nose syndrome, a disease that has wiped out millions of bats in North America. A study found that bats in China showed strong resistance to the fungal infection responsible for the deaths. The fungus invades the skin of the bats and causes characteristic white markings on the face and wings. The scientists involved in the report say some American species may evolve the ability to fight the disease. ...
May 16, 2016
Fellow Story

Robert Heilmayr: Market-based conservation programs slow deforestation in Chile

A new study of market-based forest conservation schemes in Chile provides rare insight into the effectiveness of this relatively new approach to preventing deforestation. The schemes, known as non-state, market-driven (NSMD) governance regimes reduced deforestation on participating properties by between 2 and 23 percent, conclude Switzer Fellow Robert Heilmayr and Eric Lambin.
May 11, 2016
Fellow Story

Jennifer O'Leary: Pew Fellowship funds Cal Poly biologist's study of Indian Ocean

Fellow Jennifer O’Leary recently received a prestigious Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation and is freshly back on California's Central Coast from management and conservation work she’s doing in East Africa and the Western Indian Ocean partially supported by a Switzer Leadership Grant.
May 11, 2016
Fellow Story

Stewart's work with giant manta rays featured on National Geographic

Manta rays, which are among the bigger and more charismatic animals in the ocean, have captured humans' imagination for generations. And yet scientists still have many unanswered questions about rays' behavior. Why do they dive so deep? What do they eat in each season? Why do they congregate in certain areas?
February 24, 2016
Fellow Story

The key to halting climate change: admit we can't save everything

The best use of resources is to adopt a triage approach to climate change – deal with the direst circumstances first, and work from there, says Ayana Elizabeth Johnson.
February 22, 2016
Fellow Story

McElwee quoted on death of Vietnam's sacred turtle

A giant turtle, a mythic symbol of Vietnamese independence and longevity that had quietly paddled around Hanoi’s central lake for decades — some say centuries — is dead, official state news media has reported. The turtle, known as Cu Rua, or Great-Grandfather Turtle, weighed an estimated 360 pounds and was believed to have died of natural causes. Its precise age was unknown. ...
February 17, 2016
Fellow Story

Wilcox authors first comprehensive impact assessment of trash on marine wildlife

A first-of-its-kind analysis of the impact of 20 ocean trash items on seabirds, marine mammals and sea turtles conducted using expert elicitation was published today in Marine Policy by Ocean Conservancy and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO). Until now, the impact of marine debris items, such as plastic bags and fishing gear, to populations of these animals has been far less clear. ...
February 16, 2016