A Deficit of Conservation Experts

At a time when interest in conservation has never been higher, a little-noticed crisis is emerging. Colleges are training too few people to handle the complex duties involved in the stewardship of biological diversity.

Each time nonprofit groups sign conservation-management agreements, create easements, and take over management of a habitat, the task of preserving natural ecosystems grows — and the shortage of conservation experts becomes ever more pressing.

This problem is the byproduct of success: The conservation work of foundations, nonprofit groups, government agencies, and academic institutions is paying off.

With success, however, comes a shared responsibility. The need for new conservation professionals has been created, at least in part, by the success of foundations and major donors. These contributors should also step in to help universities provide the professional training required for conservation success in the 21st century.

The shortage of conservation experts is largely the result of two converging trends. Just as with many other parts of our society, the impending retirement of the baby-boom generation will lead to a major loss of veteran conservation professionals. This change has already begun. Secondly, financial support for graduate training in environmental biology has lagged while costs have risen sharply.

America’s universities must be prepared to educate a diversity of conservation professionals from undergraduates through postdoctoral researchers. Undergraduate programs in environmental management are arguably strong and getting stronger. Professional master’s-degree programs that focus on a suite of skills for conservation management are emerging. The capacity of institutions to train Ph.D. candidates has lagged.

Doctoral-level research provides an essential element of professional training in the skills that natural-resource management requires. Managing ecosystems is much like an academic experiment. The emerging conservation work force must include people trained to evaluate management alternatives by drawing on a research-based approach to problem solving.

Universities are struggling to meet this need to train students with research skills. The number of federally financed graduate students in environmental science remained unchanged through the 1990s. Federal support for research and development in natural resources and the environment has remained constant since 1970. Most state budgets for conservation research have declined. Young conservation scientists envisioning careers outside the ivory tower find it difficult to obtain support for a research education to achieve their career objectives.

To be sure, government money plays a larger role than private funds in both managing resources and professional training. That’s why donors could make a big difference by supporting efforts to encourage government to increase its support for conservation training. Nevertheless, money from grant makers can make a big difference.

Graduate-training grants are one opportunity for this much needed training. Government-financed training grants generally focus on two primary targets: financing graduate research and providing novel educational opportunities. If our goal is to ensure the diversity and health of our natural ecosystems, then the next generation of professionals must understand and effectively communicate the complex issues of natural-resources management. This training requires that doctoral programs reach out beyond traditional research training.

Philanthropic giving can provide the impetus for the development of these skills.

One model that could be pursued: the David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship program, developed by the Cedar Tree Foundation and the Nature Conservancy, now managed by the Society for Conservation Biology. Smith fellows are provided support for their postdoctoral work and develop projects linking an academic institution and a conservation organization on a practical management problem. This partnership approach needs to be copied at the master’s and doctoral level.

Graduate students are clamoring for opportunities to develop skills so they can pursue careers in hands-on conservation. Philanthropic gifts can provide the incentive for universities to provide these opportunities. As educators, we have found that linking students with a conservation organization does more than help the student; it typically changes the institution where they work.

Conservation of the world’s resources rests on more than protecting the land and waterways and oceans. Universities have the capacity and desire to educate the conservation work force, but they lack the resources to fulfill the growing demand.

Foundations need to act quickly to embrace the challenge of managing resources as successfully as they have embraced the challenge of protecting resources over the past 50 years. By expanding their approach to protecting earth’s diversity to focusing on conservation professionals, philanthropists will truly be making gifts that benefit future generations.

Mark W. Schwartz is a professor of environmental science and policy at the University of California at Davis. His e-mail address is mwschwartz@ucdavis.edu. Michael Dombeck is a professor of global environmental management at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point and executive director of the Smith Fellowship program. His e-mail address is mike.dombeck@uwsp.edu. David Blockstein is a senior scientist at the National Council for Science and the Environment and executive secretary of the Council of Environmental Deans and Directors. His e-mail address is david@ncseonline.org.