Report from the Global Development Network Conference on Biodiversity & Sustainable Development
Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador
October 31 – November 1, 2023
With an eye toward engaging Central and South American scientists in the Half-Earth Chairs & Scholars program, Brooks Bonner, Program Director for the Half-Earth Project, attended the Global Development Network Conference on Biodiversity and Sustainable Development in Quito, Ecuador. The Half-Earth Chairs & Scholars’ programmatic goal is to support global biodiversity research and scholarship to cultivate and champion the unique knowledge and expertise of scientists from each region of the world and nurture a global footprint of scientific leadership and community insight in support of the Half-Earth Project. The program aims to support emerging scientists in places that are priorities for conservation to empower local representation that ensures successful biodiversity outcomes.
The inaugural Half-Earth Chair, Dr. Piotr Naskrecki, mentored numerous Half-Earth Scholars in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, supporting research and exploration in this critical area for biodiversity. Working through the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Laboratory, Half-Earth Scholars discovered 100 new species to science, identified 25 endemic to Gorongosa, and collected data for 750 species on the IUCN Red List. These Scholars have gone on to complete and pursue advanced research degrees in wildlife conservation and have become regional leaders in protecting Mozambique’s unique flora and fauna.
At the Global Development Network Conference, Brooks met several amazing conservation research leaders who epitomize the innovation and scholarship that the Half-Earth Chairs & Scholars program aims to support. The Half-Earth Chairs & Scholars Advisory Board convened in March and will announce the next Half-Earth Chair on Earth Day 2024. Stay tuned for news from our next cohort of Half-Earth Chairs & Scholars, who will share their progress at Half-Earth Day 2024, in Columbia. Please direct questions and requests for more information to Brooks Bonner, Program Director, E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation: bbonner@eowilsonfoundation.org.
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