Graduate/Professional Training - Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation The Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation, a partnership between George Mason University and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI), is offering a full schedule of unique, intensive residential training courses hosted in our new, sustainably-built Academic Center on the grounds of SCBI in Front Royal Virginia. Most courses can be taken either for graduate credit or continuing education units. Limited scholarships are available for eligible applicants and reduced fees are now available to applicants from less-developed nations. Visit our website (http://SMConservation.gmu.edu) or email us at scbitrain...@si.edu for more details about each course, course costs, and credits earned.
NEW COURSE: Conservation for Development Professionals: Strategies for implementing biodiversity action plans for the private sector (August 10-14, 2015) Learn strategies for developing and implementing a Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP), particularly as they relate to companies involved in natural resource extraction or industrial development; international examples applied at the national and site specific levels to manage and conserve habitats and species will be a focus. Learn how BAPs relate to other development projects, such as the Environmental and Social Impact Assessments, how they improve biological knowledge and information, and the role of education and conservation programs. Ecology and Conservation of Migratory Birds (September 14-25, 2015) Led by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, this course teaches the most current methods in the research of migratory birds including theoretical concepts, field and laboratory methods (e.g. mist-netting, banding, tissue sampling, stable isotope geochemistry, geolocators and radio telemetry), data analysis (including distance sampling and mark-recapture statistics) and applied conservation strategies. Participants will be mist-netting and handling birds nearly every morning of the course, and will also learn to prepare museum voucher study skins. NEW COURSE: Statistical Downscaling of Global Climate Models in SDSM 5.2 (December 7-11, 2015) The Statistical DownScaling Model (SDSM) is a freely available software tool that facilitates the rapid development of multiple, low-cost, single-site scenarios of daily surface weather variables under present and future climate forcing. This course trains on the use and application of this decision support tool for assessing local climate change impacts, and is taught by professionals currently using this technique in their own research. The course progresses from download and management of site-specific climate data, to development of future scenarios of climate change based on global models, and finally to downscaling techniques including quality control and data transformation; screening of downscaling predictor variables; model calibration; weather generators; analysis and graphing of observed and downscaled data; frequency analysis; scenario generation; and time series analysis. Additional Upcoming Courses: . Practical Zoo Nutrition Management (April 11-15, 2016) - NEW COURSE . Species Monitoring & Conservation: Terrestrial Mammals (May 9-20, 2016)
