An interdisciplinary, multi-institution graduate research and education program in conservation biology and sustainability of agricultural and forest systems has been established. The need is acute for better disciplinary integration to achieve biodiversity conservation and sustainable productivity in anthropogenically fragmented landscapes. To achieve this, a new generation of professionals must be educated in a holistic fashion. Students in the program work in interdisciplinary teams to study aspects of biodiversity conservation and sustainable productivity in distinct geographic regions characterized by habitat fragmentation.

A highly productive group of educators and researchers from two Colleges and six Departments at the University of Idaho and two Research Areas at the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), an international institution headquartered in Costa Rica, are participants in the project. These faculty provide mentoring in agricultural ecology, forest ecology and management, conservation biology and biodiversity assessment, ecological genetics, soil science, watershed sciences, ethics, rural sociology, policy, social impact assessment, and environmental economics.

The program differs from traditional doctoral programs at UI in five major ways.

First, graduate education is multi-institutional with course work conducted at UI and CATIE, and dual institution graduate committee membership. Second, student teams will address similar research questions in temperate and tropical ecosystems and will complete a research internship with their teammates in the country that is not their primary field site. Third, students working in interdisciplinary teams will produce dissertation sets that will include some co-authored chapters. Fourth, students will complete an interdisciplinary graduate curriculum including biophysical and social sciences. Fifth, students will participate in professional development activities including joint annual research symposia and interdisciplinary training workshops.

Professionals educated through this program will have the expertise to work effectively in interdisciplinary teams addressing the pressing scientific problems concerning management of the biosphere. Students will gain cross-cultural experience and geographic exposure to enhance their international perspective. These professionals will be uniquely prepared to pursue careers in academia, government agencies, and international research and development institutions.