Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center

Graduate Conservation Internships

 

Since summer 1992, the Harris World Ecology Center at the University of Missouri-St. Louis has facilitated the placement of graduate students in conservation internships.  International students from Argentina, Australia, Belize, Bhutan, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Spain, Venezuela and Zambia have completed internships.  Internships have been conducted in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Kenya, Germany, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Puerto Rico, as well as in Missouri, Louisiana, New York, Utah, and Washington, DC.  Internships have been conducted with international non-governmental conservation groups (e.g., Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund), multinational institutions (e.g., The World Bank), federal agencies (e.g., Smithsonian Institution), and private organizations (e.g., Costa Rica's National Institute of Biodiversity, Missouri Botanical Garden, Saint Louis Zoo).  A number of the graduates of this program have obtained positions in conservation-related fields.  The conservation internship has been instrumental in securing post-graduate school employment for a number of interns.  For example, Monica Romo joined Conservation International (based in Lima, Peru), Pedro Lopez-Valencia joined World Wildlife Fund in Washington, DC (Pedro is now working with a national research agency in Bogota, Colombia), Kevin Cool works for the State of Missouri as a Geospatial Analyst and Patricia Baiao now works for Conservation International in Brazil.

American Museum of Natural History, New York
Lorena Calvo, M.S. (Guatemala)
Education of public through displays

American Zoo & Aquaria Association
Peter Taylor, M.S. (US)
Snake conservation

Associaciao Pro-Carnivora, Brazil
Frank Wolff, M.S. (Luxembourg)
Jaguar-human conflict

Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior
Casey Burns, M.S. (US)
Environmental Protection Specialist

Tori Stobbe, M.S. (US)
Analysis of pit-fall trap data, Mojave Desert; GIS mapping of desert tortoise mortality on roads

Center for Plant Conservation 
Jacqueline Bratten, M.S. (US)
GIS application for rare plant conservation

Nuala Caomhanach, M.S. (Ireland)
Public policy and plant conservation

Liessa Thomas, M.S. (US)
Conserving California's rare plants

Centro para Conservación de Biodiversidad de Guatemala
Elma Kay, M.S. (Guatemala)
Preparation and teaching of a plant/animal interaction and conservation course for K1-6 children

Charles Darwin Research Station
Monica Soria, M.S. (Ecuador)
Invasive plants

Caroline Duffie, M.S. (US)
Health monitoring of Galapagos penguins and flightless cormorants, Galapagos Islands

CONABIO Mexican Commission on Biodiversity
Jorge Uribe, Graduate Certificate (Mexico)
Analysis of priority areas for the conservation of mammalian diversity

Conservation International 
Jaqueline Goerck, Ph.D. (Brazil)
RAP in Ecuador, transcribing notes of Theodore A. Parker III into an accessible database

Carlos Reynel, Ph.D. (Peru)
Member of RAP team visit to Tambopata

Monica Romo, Ph.D. (Peru)
Member of RAP team visit to Tambopata

Monica Romo, Ph.D. (Peru)
Established conservation plan for Madre de Dios region, Peru

Dresden Zoo - Germany 
Joline Lalime, M.S. (Australia)
Conserving the endangered red-tailed parrot, Atlantic Forests (Brazil)

Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago 
Jorge Perez-Eman, Ph.D. (Venezuela) 
Conserving biodiversity

Fundacion ProYungas
Jose Fabara Rojas, M.S. (Argentina)
Identifying areas of conservation importance in Department of Oran, northwest Argentina

Nicole Wulff, M.S. (US)
Tourism potential: Tilcara-Calilegua corridor, Argentina

Institute of Tropical Forestry, US Forest Service, Puerto Rico
Silvio Marchini, Ph.D. (Brazil)
Sustainable use of tropical forests

Inter-American Development Bank (Washington, DC)
Carlos Reynel, Ph.D. (Peru)
Program evaluation & development, Environmental Division

The Leatherback Trust, Costa Rica
Jeffery Norris, Ph.D. (US)
Turtle conservation education

Litzsinger Road Ecology Center
O’Kongo Akura, Ed.D. (Kenya)
Development of EarthLinks curriculum materials

Maryville University
Tony Piccinni, M.S. (US)
Role of the teacher in environmental education in a traditional classroom

Missouri Botanical Garden 
Susana Benedet-Perea, Graduate Certificate (Spain)
Rare plant conservation

Monica Carlsen, Ph.D. (Venezuela)
GIS mapping of Araceae collections

Sangay Dema, M.S. (Bhutan)
Plant conservation, Bhutan

Trish Distler, M.S. (US) 
Developing methods to conserve germplasm of rare plants

Corneille Ewango, M.S. (Democratic Republic of Congo)
GIS – Plant conservation of inselbergs, DRC

José R. Hidalgo (Ecuador)
GIS – Plant conservation 

M. Carolina Israel, M.S. (Peru) 
Research internship with Ericaceae-Colombia project

Cynthia Hong-Wa, Ph.D. (Madagascar)
GIS – Plant conservation, Madagascar

David Kenfack, Ph.D. (Cameroon)
GIS – Plant conservation

Karen Meldrum, M.S. (US)
Recovery of Dr. Alwyn Gentry's temperate plot data

Rosa del C. Ortiz-Gentry, Ph.D. (Peru)
Checklist of vascular plants of Antioquia, Colombia

Seema N. Sheth, M.S. (US)
Applying IUCN criteria and Red List categories to Bignonieae

Homero Vargas, M.S. (Peru)
Species distribution modeling of Araceae in the Neotropics

Missouri Coalition for the Environment
Robert McHale, M.S. (US)
Developing white paper on illegal toxic burnings in cement kilns in Missouri

Missouri Department of Conservation
Alejandro Martinez-Abrain, M.S. (Spain)
Missouri Forest Ecosystem Project

John Lawler, M.S. (US)
Conservation outreach education

Missouri Department of Natural Resources
Kevin Cool, M.S. (US)
GIS coverage mapping of Cuivre River State Park

Monsanto
Jared Holtmeyer (US)
Monsanto Campus biodiversity study

National Biological Survey
Jose G. Tello, M.S. (Peru) 
Using natural history collections to answer evolutionary and biogeography questions: a case study with Pipridae

National Herbarium of Malawi
Zacharia Magombo, Ph.D. (Malawi)
Native forest regeneration on Ulumba Mountain, southern Malawi

National Institutes of Biodiversity (INBio) (Costa Rica)
Yeshey Dorji, M.S. (Bhutan)
Database management and biodiversity inventories and monitoring

Alvero Herrera, M.S. (Costa Rica)
Conservation application of GIS

Raul Medina, M.S. (Peru)
Cataloging biodiversity for Coleoptera subgenus

National Museums of Kenya
O'Kongo Akura, M.S. (Kenya) 
Curriculum development of medicinal plant use in Kenya

The Nature Conservancy
Sandra Arango, Ph.D. (Colombia)
Developing conservation priorities for Choco region of Colombia

Patricia Baiao, Ph.D. (Brazil)
Conservation policy, non-governmental organization management

Adrian Brown, M.S. (US)
Grand River Grasslands Conservation Action Plan

Julia Brownlee, M.S. (US)
Land management policy

Emily Feinberg, M.S. (US) 
Prairie chicken conservation

Kelly Halbert, M.S. (US)
Conservation easements

Alex Martinez, M.S. (Costa Rica)
Supporting conservation initiatives in the Brazilian cerrado

Gabriel Picon, M.S. (Venezuela) 
Using GIS to establish conservation priorities in the Gran Sabana, Venezuela

Office of Surface Mining, US Department of Interior
Leonard Meier, M.S. (US)
Bat conservation

Organization for Tropical Studies
Miriam Ramos-Escobedo, Graduate Certificate (Mexico)
Environmental impact and policy of serial hydroelectric schemes on the aquatic organisms in the Sarapiqui River, Costa Rica

Population Action International
O’Kongo Akura, Ed.D. (Kenya)
Development of curriculum materials for Kenyan schools

Powder Mill Nature Center, PA
Enoch Kaledimimo, M.S. (Papua New Guinea)
GIS vegetation survey of nature reserve, Pennsylvania

Prairies Forever
Kelly Bailey, M.S. (US)
Prairie creation key

Real Jardín Botánico (CSIC)
Paty Feria, Ph.D. (Mexico)
Ecological modeling

Saint Louis Zoo
Carolina Valdespino, Ph.D. (Mexico)
Captive breeding, reproduction and conservation of the Fennec Fox

Eli Baksir, M.S. (US)
Animal behavior: Cheetah, Grevy’s zebra, Channel Island fox and of Somali wild ass

Anne Bolte, M.S. (US)
Endangered species management

Kate Huyvaert, Ph.D. (US)
Teaching Assistant, Field course in Panama

Bruce Read, Ph.D. (US)
Coordinate and co-teach conservation courses applicable to zoo community and captive breeding centers

Gena Sbeglia, M.S. (US)
Primate house keeper

Carolina Valdespino, Ph.D. (Mexico)
Captive breeding, reproduction and conservation of the fennec fox

Sierra Club, Local Chapter, Missouri
Daniel Kasten, M.S. (US)
Influencing and educating policy-makers

Simon Bolivar Zoo
Patricia McDaniel, M.S. (US) 
Development of an environmental education program for Zona Norte on primates and tropical forests, Costa Rica

Smithsonian Institution
Samoa Asigau (Papua New Guinea)
Mammals of Papua New Guinea

Gerardo Aymard, M.S. (Venezuela)
Conducting biodiversity inventories and establishing protocols for biodiversity research

Gilbert Barrantes, Ph.D. (Costa Rica)
Curation and maintenance of biodiversity collections

Nidia Cuello, M.S. (Venezuela)
Development of GIS vegetation maps for new Venezuelan park

Kenneth Yhuanje (Papua New Guinea)
Small mammal conservation

Muse Opiang, M.S. (Papua New Guinea)
Echidna conservation, Papua New Guinea

Sonia Sandoval, M.S. (Ecuador)
Cataloging biodiversity

Grace Servat, Ph.D. (Peru)
Research scientist with BIOLAT program, Peruvian Amazon

Southeastern Louisiana University
Tibisay Escalona, Ph.D. (Venezuela)
Field research with endangered yellow-blotched map turtle

Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
Carol Langner, M.S. (US)
Endangered mammals of Kaiparowits Plateau

University of Leicester
Michelle Crenshaw, M.S. (US) 
Wetland ecology of Lake Naivasha, Kenya

University of Missouri-St. Louis
Miriam G. Ramos-Escobedo, M.S. (Mexico)
GIS Los Tuxtlas Region, Mexico

US Army Corp of Engineers
Craig Litteken, Graduate Certificate (US)
Floodplain environmental management

US Peace Corps, Costa Rica
Greg Basco, Ph.D. (US)
Natural forest management

Wild Canid Survival and Research Center
Elise Beyer, M.S. (US)
Captive breeding of endangered canid species

P. Christie Johnson, M.S. (US)
Captive breeding of endangered red wolf

Wildlife Conservation Society 
Banak Gamui, M.S. (Papua New Guinea)
Conservation planning and administration, Crater Mountain, Papua New Guinea

Monica Romo, Ph.D. (Peru)
Establish conservation plan for Madre de Dios region, Peru, Conservation International - Peru

World Aquarium in St. Louis
Christy Clemenson, M.S. (US)
Coral growth and colony maintenance

The World Bank (Washington, DC)
Guillermo Paz y Miño Ph.D. (Ecuador)
Setting priorities of GEF funding, preparation of white paper in conjunction with NGOs

World Bird Sanctuary
Tamsen Rizzardo, M.S. (US)
Education program

World Wildlife Fund (Washington, DC)
Rose Makano, MPPA (Zambia)
Forestry policy analysis, Zambia

Luis Miguel Renjifo, Ph.D. (Colombia)
Developing conservation priorities - Hispanic South American program

Pedro Lopez Valencia, M.S. (Colombia) 
Conservation science program; NGOs responses to priority setting for GEF funding