Cohort 1
In February, 2009, the Center for Collaborative Conservation (CCC) at Colorado State University and the Warner College of Natural Resources awarded seventeen fellowships which formed the first cohort of CCC Fellows. These fellows included eleven graduate students, three faculty members and three conservation practitioners. Also among them were three undergraduate interns who assisted fellows with their projects. This cohort of Fellows was from six nations around the globe and represented six departments and three colleges from Colorado State University, and three NGOs.
This cohort focused on problems as diverse as:
- Marine conservation in the Philippines
- Pasture management in Mongolia
- Elephant-people conflicts in Tanzania
- Understanding how collaboratives work better through incentives
The first cohort focused their work in six countries that included:
- United States
- Kenya
- Philippines
- Mongolia
- Panama
- Tanzania
Learn more about each fellow by clicking on their tab
Aleta Rudeen Weller
About Aleta
Aleta received her Master’s degree with Dr. Maria Fernandez-Gimenez in the Department of Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Stewardship, CSU.

Project Summary
For her fellowship she studied the roles of communication, conflict and science in natural resource collaboration. Her current position is the Research and Outreach Coordinator with the School of Global Enviromental Sustainability at CSU.
Adam Beh
About Adam
Adam received his PhD through the Human Dimensions of Natural Resources Department at CSU working with Dr. Brett Bruyere.

Project Summary
For his CCC fellowship Adam employed Photovoice, a participatory action research project, to organize a diverse group of conservation practitioners and community members in eastern Samburu County, Kenya. The project allowed the group to identify local conservation concerns and develop plans for community action. As a result, 26 photographers from Samburu National Reserve, Kalama and West Gate Community Wildlife Conservancies and local communities worked together to identify a way forward for conservation, education, and development on their own lands. Their collective vision has been shared with international audiences in Kenya and the United States. Adam is currently working at the Jornada Experimental Range as a Human Ecologist for USDA-ARS (New Mexico State University) coordinating the Land-Potential Knowledge System (LandPKS), a cloud-based analytic system using mobile phone technologies to integrate local and scientific knowledge for dynamic land-use planning in Kenya, Namibia, and the southwestern US.
Location
Samburu National Reserve, Kenya
April Wackerman
About April
April completed her Master’s degree in Construction Management with an emphasis in Sustainable Building at CSU, working with Dr. Mary Nobe.

Project Summary
She explored the process of paradigm shifts in order to understand how to facilitate paradigm shifts in the construction industry more effectively. Her research is informing the development of a process guide called LENSES (Living Environments in Natural, Social, and Economic Systems) used to foster a living systems approach to the design, construction and operations of buildings with Brian Dunbar and his team at the Institute for the Built Environment at CSU (http://ibe.colostate.edu/).
Location
Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
Deliverables
Arren Mendezona Allegretti
About Arren
Arren was a PhD candidate in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology with a passion for collaboration and for experiential learning.

Project Summary
Arren joined the CCC to coordinate the undergraduate opportunities initiative. Arren made progress towards integrating collaborative conservation content into existing programs and classes via presentations to students in the classroom and in the field. She has developed several field trips around the area as experiential learning opportunities, including a biking tour around City of Fort Collins’ Natural Areas. Other objectives of the initiative include connecting undergrads to our Collaborative Conservation Fellow and alumni, as well as faculty and practitioners working in the field. Finally, she promotes these opportunities by elevating our visibility and communication across the University, with outreach to student clubs, departmental coordinators, and listservs. In addition to this, Arren is facilitating CCC graduate fellowships endeavors with Dr. Kim Skyelander. Arren enjoys swimming, traditional climbing, cooking, and traveling.
Location
Southern Cebu, Philippines
Ashley Cobb
About Ashley
Ashley completed her Master’s degree in the Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources at CSU with Dr. Jes Thompson during the term of her CCC fellowship.

Project Summary
For her fellowship she evaluated the collaborative process of scenario planning as applied to climate change management initiatives in the National Park Service and other land management agencies. Ashley explored how scientists and managers negotiated the uncertainty and complexity of climate change impacts on protected areas. She studied the application of different collaborative tools such as scenario planning and situation mapping to understand how different organizations and individuals can work together to promote adaptation in environmental management.
Location
Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
Deliverables
Batkhishig Baival
About Batkhishig
Batkhishig is a PhD candidate in the Department of Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Stewardship at CSU working with Dr. Maria Fernandez-Gimenez.

Project Summary
Her graduate research and fellowship project were conducted in four different herding communities of Mongolia to analyze the relationship between community-based rangeland management (CBRM) and the social-ecological resilience of pastoral Mongolian communities.
Location
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Deliverables
Esther Duke
About Esther
Esther defended her Master’s thesis in the Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources at CSU, working with Dr. Josh Goldstein.

Project Summary
For her fellowship, she used collaborative processes to engage government, non-profit, and agricultural communities in exploring the potential for a payment for ecosystem services (PES) program to deliver conservation and livelihood outcomes in the buffer zone of La Amistad Bi-national World Heritage Site in Western Panama. The resulting research also contributes to a key social consideration in the design of PES: how to proactively explore ways to ensure that landowners across the socioeconomic spectrum, including particularly the poor, are able to participate in PES.
Location
Panama City, Panama
Joana Roque de Pinho
About Joana
Joana is a PhD graduate from the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology at CSU, working with Dr. Kathy Galvin. Joana explored the coexistence of Kenyan Maasai pastoralists and wildlife from cultural, cognitive and economic perspectives.

Project Summary
Her fellowship involved carrying out a Photovoice project that put cameras in the hands of Maasai volunteers to document their interactions with wildlife, conservation and drought, and has led to multiple art exhibits in Fort Collins, Colorado. She also co-produced and co-directed a documentary film on the project’s Photovoice process and outcomes, entitled ” Through our Eyes: a Maasai Photographic Journey”. She is currently a post-doctoral researcher at Instituto de Ciencias Sociais e Politicas, in Lisbon, Portugal, carrying out cognitive anthropology research in Guinea-Bissau.
Location
Kenya
Deliverables
Patti Biddle Orth
About Patti
Patti is a PhD candidate in the Department of Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Stewardship at CSU, working with Dr. Tony Cheng.

Project Summary
As collaborative approaches to solving complex natural resource problems and their role in natural resource planning continue to proliferate, it is essential that collaborative efforts be evaluated to ensure the most efficient and effective uses of scarce resources. For her fellowship Patti collaborated with conservation practitioners to develop an evaluation procedure utilizing criteria and indicators for determining the progress and success of collaboratives in Colorado.
Location
Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
Deliverables
Sarah Maisonneuve
About Sarah
Sarah is a PhD student in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology at CSU, working with Dr. Mike Coughenour.

Project Summary
Her CCC fellowship involved producing films and written reports for local villagers and village leaders in the Greater Ruaha Ecosystem of Tanzania describing the general behavioral ecology of elephants, as well as the landscape ecology of the conflict and potential mitigation strategies which may be employed to manage it. These activities inspired the development of her current project, known as the Ruaha National Park visitation program, the aim of which is to continue bridging the disconnect which local people experience between themselves and wildlife by providing local people with regular opportunities to visit and learn about the park, and to measure the influence of these visits on identification of Ruaha National Park as a locally valuable resource.
Location
Greater Ruaha Ecosystem, Tanzania
Deliverables
Heidi Steltzer
About Heidi
Heidi is on the faculty of the Biology Dept., Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO (formerly of the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, CSU).

Project Summary
She is assessing the biological consequences of earlier snowmelt as a result of desert dust deposition in alpine landscapes. For her fellowship she collaborated with the Mountain Studies Institute, Silverton, CO to create visualizations of Rocky Mountain alpine landscape seasonality in 2020 based on continued high levels of dust deposition to share with local residents for use in decision-making.
Location
Durango, Colorado, USA
Deliverables
Josh Goldstein
About Josh
Josh is an assistant professor in the Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources at CSU whose research and teaching focus on ecosystem services and conservation finance.

Project Summary
For his CCC fellowship, he worked with ranchers and other stakeholders in northern Colorado to explore ways to develop business models that align conservation and economic incentives for working ranches and their communities. This project has led to efforts to develop payment for ecosystem services programs in northern Colorado and elsewhere across the Rocky Mountain region.
Location
Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
Liba Pejchar
About Liba
Liba is an assistant professor in the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology at CSU whose research focuses on “win-win” opportunities for biodiversity and livelihoods.

Project Summary
For her fellowship, Liba worked with public and private landowners in Hawaii to understand the seed dispersal services that native birds provide and their role in restoring understory fruiting plants for conservation and Hawaiian cultural practices. Liba later worked with Erica Goad, CCC graduate student fellow, on her project on mammal use of dispersed housing developments along the Front Range of Colorado. She also worked closely with Lindsay Ex, CCC practitioner fellow, on her project to develop a learning network for conservation development scientists and practitioners.
Location
Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
Deliverables
David Ole Nkedianye
About David
David is a founding Director of the Reto O Reto Foundation in Kitengela, Kenya, which aims to link research with local pastoral livelihoods and conservation.

Project Summary
For his fellowship, David facilitated linkages among Maasai communities and conservation organizations to enhance mutual participation in conservation, while exploring innovative and sustainable ways of generating revenue for local households and conserving the environment. David continues to work at the interface of pastoral communities, research and conservation organizations, and policy makers to enhance understanding of problems affecting livelihoods and sustainability, especially in the dry lands of East Africa.
Location
Kitengela, Kenya
Deliverables
Ed Iron Cloud
About Ed
Ed is a board member and bison caretaker of the Knife Chief Buffalo Nation Project at the Pine Ridge Reservation in Porcupine, South Dakota, where he has lived his whole life. He is also the South Dakota State Representative for District 27.

Project Summary
Ed is working on a community-based initiative, the mission of which is to strengthen the connection between the Lakota people and the buffalo. Historically, the Lakota people practiced collaboration as a way of life, and understood the importance of the concept of conservationism. Due to historical events that have created a “disconnect” from teachings, a revitalization of these beliefs and practices must occur and Ed’s project will create a resource for this. Ed is producing a pictorial with narrative on the role of the Buffalo Nation in the Lakota spiritual and cultural ceremonies with emphasis on their role in conservationism according to the Lakota perspective to be used in schools, colleges, universities and for community presentations. He is collaborating with Village Earth, youth from Pine Ridge Reservation, and traditional healers and elders to complete this project.
Location
Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota, USA
Deliverables
Jeff Jones
About Jeff
Jeff is the Executive Director and founder of The Conservation Cooperative (TCC), a Colorado non-profit corporation.

Project Summary
As part of his fellowship he developed and implemented a four-day short course for conservation practitioners and students entitled ‘Private Land Conservation Law and Policy.’ The course was held at CSU in August, 2009. Jeff also spearheaded a field-based conservation planning short-course for non-specialists for September 2010.