World Wildlife Fund

Fellowships

Alcoa Foundation Conservation and Sustainability Fellowship Program

Background  

There are many serious and challenging sustainability issues facing the world today—climate change, energy, water management, habitat loss, accelerated growth and development in emerging countries—that have the potential to impact our world for generations to come. In response, Alcoa Foundation is partnering with World Wildlife Fund and other organizations to create a global program that is making a significant contribution to improving knowledge and building leaders in the field of conservation and sustainability.

In addition to enabling breakthrough research, Alcoa Foundation's Conservation and Sustainability Fellowship Program is:

• Presenting research outcomes that lead to the adoption of effective new policies or practices by organizations or communities;
• Creating a global, interdisciplinary network of thought leaders;
• Developing fellows' ability to become recognized as innovators and world-class leaders; and
• Serves as a new model of effective private philanthropic action, bringing together academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, and business and government leaders to address urgent problems of global concern.

Program Structure
Over the course of the five-year program, three “Sustainability Institutes,” IUCN, Tecnológico de Monterrey, and WWF, will mentor up to 60 Alcoa Foundation Practitioner Fellows, up-and-coming researchers from all over the globe who show promise as researchers in conservation and sustainability. These Practitioner Fellows, who are typically mid-career professionals from non-governmental organizations, receive $10,000 to conduct intensive applied research projects in their home countries for up to one year. Each are assigned a mentor at one of the Sustainability Institutes to help guide their research and promote its findings. Fellows have the opportunity to visit their respective sustainability institute early in their project and remain engaged with their mentors through periodic meetings and remote communications.  Through this program WWF experts will mentor 20 Practitioner Fellows on their research in WWF priority places and on topics of importance to WWF ‘s mission  of conserving biodiversity.

Alcoa Foundation Fellow, Wang Kanglin (left), and WWF mentor, Dr. Darron Collins

Fellowship Program

As part of Alcoa Foundation's Conservation and Sustainability Fellowship Program, WWF practitioner fellows are currently conducting breakthrough research all over the world. Through the program's combination of pure and applied research and unique interdisciplinary structure, these fellows are not only defining the challenges but also working on the appropriate responses to give decision makers usable information that takes into account a whole range of issues.

Through this approach, research gained at the local level by an Alcoa Foundation fellow serves as a model throughout WWF's global network. The interdisciplinary aspect of the fellowship program aligns with and reinforces the approach taken by WWF in its conservation and sustainability work. The program is also opening new doors to collaboration and relationships with other program participants.

To date WWF has mentored 16 Alcoa Foundation Practitioner Fellows.  To learn more about these fellows and their mentors, please click on the names below.

Alcoa Practitioner Fellows

2005

Rodrigo Hucke-Gaete ; Chile

A New Marine Protected Area for Blue Whales in Southern Chile

James Gitundu Kairo ; Kenya

Structure, Productivity and Biomass Accumulation of Reforested Mangrove Plantations in Kenya

Mwape Sichilongo ; Zambia

Institution Building and Economic Micro-Projects for Promoting Sustainability in Community-Based Natural Resource Management Project

Shakil Visram ; Kenya

Understanding How Coral Reef Habitats Shape Interactions Between Corals and Their Symbiotic Algae (Zooxanthellae), Including the Coral Bleaching Response

2006

German Andrade ; Colombia

Management Implications of Global Climate Change on Biodiversity Conservation at Lake Fúquene, Colombia

Felipe Montoya-Greenheck ; Costa Rica

Marine Turtle Conservation and Community Livelihoods

Anju Nihalani ; UK/Madagascar

Assessing the Socioeconomic Impact of Sustainable Fisheries Management Initiatives in Southwest Madagascar

Kanglin Wang ; China

Managing the Relationship between Indigenous People and Chinese Cardamon (Amomum tsao-ko Crevost & Lemarie) near Jinping National Nature Reserve, Yunnan Province, Southwest China

Qiang Xu ; China

Research on Sustainable Livelihoods Development in Baima Tibetan Villages

2007

Akinyi Amwata ; Kenya

Climate Variability, Land Use, and Livelihoods in African Rangelands

April Craighead ; USA

Utilizing Habitat-Suitability Models of Alpine Lagomorphs to Predict the Effects of Global Climate Change on Alpine Ecosystems and Prioritize Conservation Efforts

Pierre du Preez ; Namibia

Documenting Movement and Disease Status of the African Buffalo in a Transfrontier Conservation Area

Sugato Dutt ; India

Sustaining the Social Fence: An Evaluative Study of Community Endowments, State Incentives, and Conservation Outcomes in the Buxa Tiger Reserve

Monica Gruezmacher ; Colombia/Germany

Redefining Research for the Management and Use of Natural Resources: The Case of Amacayacu National Park and the Indigenous Communities in and around It

Hemanta Kafley ; Nepal

Habitat Evaluation and Suitability Modeling of Rhinoceros Unicornis in Chitwan National Park, Nepal

Edward Whittingham ; Canada

Examining U.S.-based Examples of Environmental NGO/Industry Partnerships for Action on Climate Change

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WWF Mentors

Matt Banks; Climate

Michael Case; Climate

Dr. Darron Collins ; Ethnobotany

Dr. Eric Dinerstein ; Conservation Biology

Carlos Drews; Marine Conservation

Dr. Helen Fox; Marine Conservation

Tom Grasso; Sustainable Fisheries

Lara Hansen; Climate

Dr. Judith Mashinya; Sustainable Livelihoods

Robin Naidoo ; Ecosystems Services

Judy Oglethorpe; Sustainable Livelihoods

Dr. Jenny Springer ; Sustainable Livelihoods

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