CATIE and Texas Tech University Strengthen Ties to Promote Joint Research on Conservation and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources

• Adina Chain Guadarrama shares insights on biodiversity conservation research in tropical agricultural landscapes during her visit to Texas Tech University.
  
  

Adina Chain Guadarrama, a researcher in the Forests and Biodiversity in Productive Landscapes Unit (UBBPP) at CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center), participated in a series of meetings with researchers from Texas Tech University (TTU) in Lubbock, Texas, as part of an ongoing research exchange program between both institutions.

The visit, held from October 7th to 11th, is part of a collaboration aimed at promoting joint research on the conservation and sustainable management of natural resources, as well as exploring new areas of academic interest and strengthening the ties between the two universities.

Specifically, the visit was part of a work plan developed by Dr. Chain and Dr. Carlos Portillo Quintero from the Department of Natural Resources Management at TTU, with seed funding provided by the inter-institutional exchange program.

During the visit, discussions centered on opportunities for joint research projects on topics such as monitoring land-use change in landscapes surrounding protected areas, evaluating the resilience of community-based forest management systems to socio-environmental stressors, and using geospatial information to address questions in tropical forest ecology. These potential projects aim for funding from agencies such as NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and USAID to support research in the neotropics, key regions for biodiversity conservation and the improvement of local communities' livelihoods.

One of the confirmed proposals was a project with the NASA Develop initiative, which seeks to apply satellite observations to decision-making in agriculture and ecological conservation.

These initiatives are expected to strengthen cooperation between the two institutions and produce high-impact scientific outcomes in biodiversity conservation and management.

Meetings with Leading Researchers

During her visit, Dr. Chain not only collaborated with Dr. Portillo Quintero but also held meetings with researchers from the Departments of Plant and Soil Science, Biological Sciences, and Natural Resources in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at TTU. These experts conduct research on various topics, such as pasture management and productivity in arid systems (Dr. Carlos Villalobos), biodiversity conservation management in grassland ecosystems (Scott Longing and Blake Grisham), orchid community ecology (Jyotsna Sharma), and bat ecology (Tigga Kingston) in both new and old-world tropics, as well as landscape ecology (Nancy McIntyre), among others. In these meetings, they shared information on the resources and research initiatives of CATIE and UBBPP, discussed common areas of interest, and explored potential collaborative research and student exchange opportunities, particularly focusing on how UBBPP’s forest monitoring projects in mature and secondary forests could complement conservation research in Texas's semi-arid ecosystems.

Lecture and Fieldwork

Dr. Chain also used her stay to give a lecture to TTU students and professors on biodiversity conservation in tropical agricultural landscapes, highlighting the work of UBBPP across various territories in Costa Rica.

As part of her agenda, Chain visited the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge and the Grulla National Wildlife Refuge, where she observed the region’s grassland ecosystems and learned about TTU's work in conserving these habitats. These refuges, located in the High Plains of Texas, are critical areas for local biodiversity, and the visit allowed Chain to explore potential parallels between conservation strategies applied in the region and those promoted by CATIE in tropical landscapes.