MCCS 0300: Effective Leadership and Communication
Smithsonian-Mason Global Conservation Studies Programs

Scientists agree that species loss is happening at an alarming rate. There has never been a more important time for students considering conservation management to develop the skills necessary to meet the challenges posed by climate change and shrinking biodiversity. Through the examination of case studies, conflict resolution techniques, readings, and interactive hands-on activities, participants will leave the course with a set of tools to assist them in conservation management careers.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Effective Leadership and Communication Course (11-day session)

Learning Objectives and Expected Outcomes:

• Participants will identify what leadership means to them and gain a global perspective from other students.
• Participants will reflect on the importance of teamwork, conflict resolution and negotiation through discussion, group exercises and a mock conflict simulation.
• Participants will acquire a tool box of skills and techniques that they will apply in the course to analyze and address conservation problems. These tools will be compiled, used for assignments and reflected upon in the participants’ portfolios.
• Participants will gain confidence in their ability to communicate effectively and apply skills learned in verbal and non-verbal communication by conducting an oral presentation, conducting interviews, and by completing team exercises.
• Participants will assess and prioritize their individual skills and competencies as leaders, identify gaps and needs, and address a plan of action to meet those needs by creating a personal leadership development plan.
• Participants will apply decision making models to mock scenarios to evaluate their impact on reaching ethical outcomes and avoiding “group think.”

This hands-on program is taught by leading leaders and experts in conservation studies.
This course is conducted in active learning community framework, where participants will interact with each other, instructors and lecturers though class, lab and field exercises, and discussions. The highly interactive course provides participants with real-life situations and challenges and the tools used to address these challenges. It also provides participants with a unique opportunity to interact with the resident research and conservation staff of the Smithsonian Conservation and Research Center.

Participants will achieve the following competencies in this course:

• Critical Thinking and Analysis: learn to assess which leadership tools are the most effective for different local and global environmental issues and challenges, as well as assess, prioritize, and plan their leadership skills.
• Problem-Solving: understand the principles and processes of strategic planning, project management, conflict resolution, and negotiation and learn to ask appropriate questions. Evaluate the effectiveness of given tools for specific challenges.
• Valuing: gain a different perspective of conservation and challenges from your peers and from governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the Washington area.
• Group Interaction: participate in various group exercises. Learn to work together to accomplish the particular goal. Explore various group dynamics, such as compromise, consensus, negotiation and conflict resolution, while conducting these exercises.
• Communication: develop critical reading skills and effective presentation skills through group discussions, journal writing, an oral presentation, and various exercises.
• Interviews and profiles: take advantage of the opportunity to interview senior environmental leaders and conservationists to elicit communication techniques and leadership skills.

Accommodations

Students will be provided room and board at the CRC facility, in double-occupancy dorm style rooms with shared bathrooms (segregated by gender). Meals will be offered cafeteria-style. Students will have wireless internet access available at the site.

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

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 advance preparation or prerequisites are required.

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.

Additional Instructors:

• Alfonso Alonso, PhD, Assistant Director for Conservation and Development, Monitoring and Assessment of Biodiversity, Smithsonian Institution. Dr. Alonso designs, implements and teaches protocols for vegetation and invertebrate monitoring. He is currently involved in projects in Panama, Madagascar, and Mexico. He has a BS in biology from the Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico and an MS and PhD in zoology from the University of Florida at Gainesville.
• Jennifer Sevin, Smithsonian Education and Training Coordinator, Smithsonian Institution. Ms. Sevin works with many local, national and international groups on environmental education and training efforts. Her research interests focus on bears and salamanders. She has a BS from Florida International University in environmental studies and an MS in zoology from North Carolina State University. She is currently working on her PhD at George Mason University.
• Al B. Fuertes, PhD, Faculty, New Century College, George Mason University. Conflict Resolution Specialist. Dr. Fuertes specializes in community-based trauma healing as an integral component in peace-building and conflict transformation. He travels extensively around the world, particularly in places affected by war, armed conflict, and natural disasters. Dr. Fuertes works with government, religious, military and community leaders as well as NGO development workers, school administrators, teachers, youth, refugees and internally displaced persons. Dr. Fuertes's other fields of expertise include: facilitation and dialogue (multicultural perspectives), refugee and internal displacement issues, faith and spirituality (interfaith, ecumenism and religious pluralism), conflict resolution and transformation, intermediary roles and practice (multicultural setting), and theology of struggle/people's theology/liberation theology.
• Nina Fascione, Vice President for Field Conservation, Defenders of Wildlife. Ms. Fascione oversees the work of thirty Defenders field staff in eight states and Canada. Field programs are focused on recovery efforts for endangered species and on-the-ground biodiversity conservation initiatives involving local communities. She directs two complementary programs specifically designed to reduce conflicts between wildlife and people. She established Defenders Livestock Advisory Committee to provide guidance on policies related to our predator compensation trusts, as well as the biennial Carnivore Conference. Nina serves on the executive committee of the Human-Wildlife Conflict Collaborative and is a co-founder and board chair of the Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders. She is a former Board Member of the Red Wolf Coalition, based in North Carolina, and the Wolf Conservation Center, based in New York. Ms. Facione has a master’s of applied anthropology and a BA in anthropology from the University of Maryland, where she examined the human component of wildlife conservation. Ms. Facione has authored dozens of journal articles, book chapters and technical reports covering various topics in wildlife science and conservation, and edited the Island Press book “People and Predators: From Conflict to Coexistence.”

Guest Lecturers (tentative):

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

To learn more about bringing this workshop onsite, contact Suzanne Hough at OCPE by phone, 703-993-2109 or by e-mail, shough@gmu.edu.