Overview
Course Description
Course Outline
Who Should Attend
Certificate Requirements
Registration Information
Presenter Bios

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Effective Conservation Leadership (11-day session)

This course will provide participants with knowledge and understanding of the leadership and communication capacities of environmental leaders, decision makers and business executives. It provides a working knowledge of the essential communications, program management and strategic planning skills needed to be an effective environmental leader. The course integrates social and management skills with fundamental conservation issues.

Learning Objectives:

Scientists and conservationists agree that there is a pressing need to develop a greater understanding of the ecological and human consequences of biodiversity loss. Effective leadership and management strategies are needed to address these enormous challenges. Universities, zoos, natural history museums, governments, and non-governmental organizations urgently need to pool their expertise, specialized facilities, and international network of partners to educate and endow current and future generations with the specialized skills needed to provide environmental management leadership for conservation.

Our focus will be on providing leadership tools, behaviors, strategies, and concepts modeled from outstanding environmental managers and leaders in many fields, and applied to solving environmental and conservation problems. The primary goal of this course is to provide participants with a fundamental knowledge of methodologies and their application nationally and internationally. A second goal is to provide course participants with the tools and incentive to become leaders themselves.

Expected Outcomes:

• Participants will identify what leadership means to them and gain a global perspective from fellow participants and instructors.
• Participants will reflect on the importance of teamwork, conflict resolution and negotiation, through discussion, group exercises, and a conflict simulation.
• During the course, participants will acquire a “toolbox” of skills and techniques they can use throughout their professional careers to analyze and effectively address environmental and conservation leadership challenges.
• Participants will gain confidence in their ability to communicate effectively and to apply learned verbal and non-verbal communication skills by giving an oral presentation, conducting interviews, and completing team exercises.
• Participants will assess and prioritize their individual skills and competencies as leaders, identify gaps and needs, and create a personal leadership plan to address and meet those needs.
• Participants will apply decision-making models to professional scenarios and evaluate how using such models improves our ability to achieve ethical outcomes and avoid the detrimental effects of “group think.”

Course Preparation:

There are no prerequisites for this program, but participants will be asked to come to the course having completed some of the reading assignments prior to the course start. Discussions and application of reading will take place during the course. A syllabus and reading list will be sent with the registration confirmation.

Sunday, January 3: Arrivals and Course Overview

Afternoon arrival

Introduction and course overview

Welcome dinner

Monday, January 4: Introduction to Conservation Leadership

Defining Conservation Leadership

Self-assessment tools (SWOT analysis, motivational profile, etc.)

Team building and motivation

Tuesday, January 5: Arrivals and Course Overview

Discover personal leadership style

Foundation skills and defining desired outcomes

Developing individual leadership plans

Tour of SCBI

Wednesday, January 6: Arrivals and Course Overview

Mission, vision, goals

Organizational and Strategic Planning

Project Planning and Management

Monitoring and Evaluation

Software and tools

Thursday, January 7: Enabling and Empowering Yourself and Others

Overcoming obstacles

Time and stress management

Organizational skills

Managing staff; Engaging colleagues and supervisors

Social networking

Friday, January 8

No class – work on assignments

Opportunity to explore local area

Saturday, January 9: Communication is the Key

Why is communication important?

Overview of communication strategies and techniques

Interpersonal communication; cross cultural communication

How do you know you are being an effective communicator?

Acquiring information, e-mail etiquette, public speaking, stakeholder consultation, media relations

Developing communication strategy/plan

Sunday, January 10: Conflict Resolution and Negotiation

How do we deal with difficult people or situations?

Tips to prevent conflict

Conflict resolution mechanisms

Negotiation skills

Building rapport and eliciting criteria

Monday, January 11: Grant Writing and Fundraising

Clear goals; creating an elevator pitch

Funding sources

Keys to successful grant writing

Fundraising strategies

Partnerships and collaborations

Developing and managing budgets

Tuesday, January 12: Long-term Leadership

Modeling effective strategies and techniques

Creating personal state of excellence

Maintaining energy, resourceful states and focus

Review Personal Leadership Plan

Closing ceremony and dinner

Wednesday, January 13

Closing Remarks

Departure

Beginning to mid-level employees in the conservation field, and those in need of refreshing their leadership and communication skills.

• Zoo and museum employees
• Conservation workers
• Environmental managers
• Employees of NGOs or federal agencies

No educational prerequisites are required. Students will receive preliminary course materials when they register, and will be expected to have completed some reading before the program begins.

In order to receive a certificate of participation, attendees must attend at least eight days of the program. Successful participants will be awarded 5.9 Continuing Education Units (CEUs).

Main Instructor:

• Francisco Dallmeier, PhD, Head Center for Conservation Education and Sustainability, Smithsonian Institution. Dr. Dallmeier was born in Caracas, Venezuela, where at an early age he discovered a life-long passion for living creatures. His interest in biology carried him from extensive fieldwork with the Institute of Tropical Zoology in Venezuela to the Smithsonian’s Monitoring and Assessment of Biodiversity Program (MAB). Since 1986, he has directed this program’s evolution and tremendous growth. Now consisting of a network of more than 300 research plots throughout North America, Latin America, Asia, and Africa, the MAB Program combines research, training, and public education and outreach to forge a powerful tool for the conservation of biodiversity around the world.

Guest Lecturers (tentative):

• Marshall Jones, Former Deputy Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• Ruth Stolk, Office of Development, National Zoological Park-Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
• Nance Lucas, George Mason, Associate Dean, Mason Center for Conservation Studies, and Associate Professor of New Century College at George Mason University