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It was my watch till one o'clock. There is something very solemn in these scenes. At no time does the consciousness in what a remote corner of the world you are then standing, come so strongly before the mind. Everything tends to this effect; the stillness of the night is interrupted only by the heavy breathing of the seamen beneath the tents, and sometimes by the cry of a night-bird.

Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin (22 January 1833, Tierra del Fuego Archipelago)

Education:

2006-2008: Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity, Santiago, Chile

2006: Ph.D. in Ecology, Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia

1999: B.S. w/ honors in Biology, minor in Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Fields of Expertise:

Ecology, international conservation, invasive species, sustainable development, social-ecological systems

Personal Statement:

I am married to Dr. Alejandro Valenzuela, and together we are building a life and careers in southern Patagonia. I have worked in research, education and conservation in southern Chile and Argentina since 2000, co-founding the Omora Park and helping create the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve. My research interests include the role of invasive species in socio-ecological systems, stream ecosystem ecology, conservation and long-term socio-ecological research platforms. In 2008, I was the founding coordinator of Chile's first Long-Term Ecological Research Network (www.ieb-chile.cl/ltser), and since 2004, I have been the President of OSARA (www.osara.org), an organization dedicated to promoting research, education and conservation in the southern Patagonian ecoregion of South America. From 2009-2012, I was an assistant research professor of Biology at the University of North Texas and the Administrative Director of the Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program, where I also coordinated various interdisciplinary teaching and research projects. Previously, as an assistant professor at the Universidad de Magallanes, I helped a team of colleagues create and accredit Patagonia’s first graduate program Conservation and Management of Sub-Antarctic Ecosystems. Currently, I am an Associate Professor of “Development and Territory: Coupled Social and Ecological Systems” at the National University of Tierra del Fuego and a Research Scientist in Socio-Ecological Systems at the Austral Center for Scientific Research, both in Ushuaia, Argentina. In addition, since 2015, I have been an Argentine “expert” in the Inter-governmental Science-Policy Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), as a coordinating lead author of the Regional Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the Americas and the Methodological Assessment on Diverse Conceptualizations of the Multiple Values of Nature and its Contributions to People. Taken together, the sum of these efforts has sought to understand socio-ecological sustainability through interdisciplinary collaborations and link academia with society for socially-relevant results.

Selected Honors & Awards:

2017: Kravetz Prize, given by the Argentine Society of Mammalogy for the best paper in ecology presented at the annual meeting. An interdisciplinary approach to the conservation of the southern river otter (Lontra provocax) in the Fuegian Archipelago. Authors: A.E.J. Valenzuela & C.B. Anderson.

2012: Fidel Roig Prize, the Argentine national award for excellence in biodiversity and conservation research, given by the Ministry of Science to the Forestry Resources Lab and team, led by Dr. G. Martinez Pastur

2009: Selected for American Academy for the Advance of Science’s Science and Technology Policy Fellowship in Diplomacy Track (offer declined to accept position at UNT)

2008: Science and Practice of Ecology and Society Award to the Omora Ethnobotanical Park, given by Resilience Alliance and the Foundation for Scientific Synthesis (application prepared by C.B. Anderson, M.T. Kalin, P. Raven, H. Mooney & E. Hargrove)

2007: Selected for National Science Foundation’s Research Highlight to be included in presentations to the general public and the U.S. Congress

2006: University of Georgia Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award

2004: National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: $11,000

Fulbright Scholarship–U.S. State Department: ≈$18,000

Boren Fellowship–National Security Education Program, U.S. Defense Department: ≈$20,000

1999: Frances L. Phillips Travel Scholarship to Chile: $5,000