North America Section & Local Chapter Hosts: Berkeley, Davis, & Central California Coast
The Congress is being hosted by North America Section of the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB), the Davis SCB Chapter, Berkeley SCB Chapter, and Central-Coast SCB Chapter. With this collaborative approach we are bridging the strengths of our local chapters and the continental section.
THE NORTH AMERICAN SECTION OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY represents all of the North America region, but the current representation on the board is primarily from Canada and the United States. However, we hope this congress will help bridge a stronger connection with our colleagues working in Mexico with whom we have much in common. We have benefited from the participation on the Conference Planning Committee of Carlos Galindo Leal and Roberto Arreola Alemán (CONABIO), as well as coordination with the Austral and Neotropical America Section.
The activities of the North America Section include a strong policy focus on US legislation in particular, including comments on pending changes to the US Endangered Species Act and how it is applied for species like northern spotted owl and gray wolf. The NA Section plays an important role in collaborating with other science and wildlife interest groups based in North America, including collaborative meetings such as regional conservation symposiums and national transportation science conferences. In this way they maintain a strong presence for the SCB across the United States. NA SCB is interested in fostering an increasing role related to topics of concern throughout the continent. This year's initiation of the bi-annual North America Congress for Conservation Biology (NACCB) represents an important step in this direction.
The inaugural NACCB builds on a 13-year long tradition of the annual San Francisco Bay Area Conservation Biology Symposium. This historically student-organized symposium creates a forum in which to share and discuss recent scientific findings and policy issues in conservation biology. We are pleased to expand upon this theme to plan and host the first Congress for Conservation Biology in North America.
We wish wholeheartedly to thank the following organizations for supporting the time and efforts of those collaborating with us to make the first North American Congress for Conservation Biology a success.
Bill Lane Center for the American West at Stanford University
Cedar Tree Foundation/ David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship
National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis
State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry
University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources
United States Geological Survey
Current North American Section Board Members
Dominick DellaSala, President
Judy F. Jacobs, Treasurer
Aletris M. Neils, Secretary
Mark Boyce
Carlos Carroll
Colleen Cassady St. Clair
Steven Cooke
John A. Hall
Jodi Hilty
Michael Manfredo
Paula Swedeen
THE DAVIS CHAPTER OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY is a local, student-run chapter dedicated to the promotion of conservation-related education, practice, and policy. The Davis Chapter mission is to promote conservation of biodiversity through education, practice, and policy. Their priority objectives include to: 1) promote members in SCB through chapter activities; 2) encourage interdisciplinary approach to biological conservation; 3) promote development of skills needed by professional conservation biologists; 4) promote a forum for awareness of and involvement in local and global conservation issues; 5) advance and articulate positions of the society on matters of public policy; and (6) promote a high standard of professionalism and integrity in the field of conservation biology.
The Davis Chapter has many ongoing activities to help meet these objectives, including an ongoing program to bring conservation biology into local elementary school classrooms. They are also partnering with a sister SCB chapter in La Paz, Bolivia, to coordinate environmental education exchanges between elementary schools in Davis and schools in La Paz, help La Paz members to attend SCB conferences (such as this NACCB), and more.
The Davis Chapter also coordinates an undergraduate conservation biology seminar, holds election round tables focused implications for the environment, and organizes the San Francisco Bay Area Conservation Biology Symposium on a regular basis. Chapter members are working with campus departments to implement campus-wide conservation policies related to energy, water, solid waste, recycling & re-use, electronics, and green chemistry.
THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COAST CHAPTER OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY http://consbio.blogspot.com/ provides a forum for the exchange of ideas between conservation biologists, students and advocates from Silicon Valley to Monterey Bay. The CCCSCB strives to make links among the local conservation community; to promote greater knowledge and understanding of local conservation initiatives and research; and to develop the necessary skills for successful conservation efforts, in keeping with the mission of the Society for Conservation Biology.