A major effort of Enduring Conservation Outcomes is the training of practitioners in monitoring, adaptive management and conservation planning for the purpose of empowering them in these essential components of conservation. Rob Sutter has a long history in training, leading the efforts in The Nature Conservancy in monitoring workshops (since 1991) and conservation planning (since 1994). He has taught at Duke University and the University of North Carolina.
Training in Monitoring and Adaptive Management
Rob Sutter has extensive experience teaching monitoring and adaptive management workshops. He was the co-developer of The Nature Conservancy’s monitoring workshops and has lead over 30 training workshops in monitoring and adaptive management, including teaching for The Nature Conservancy, Department of Defense, National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service (National Conservation Training Center in Shepardstown WV.) and US Forest Service. He is currently teaching a monitoring and adaptive management workshop at Archbold Biological Station in south Florida.
Training in Conservation Planning
Rob Sutter was one of the developers of The Nature Conservancy’s Conservation Action Planning (CAP) process and one of the leading planners in TNC. He is proficient in Open Standards and Conservation Measures Partnership’s Miradi software and has planning experience in terrestrial, karst, freshwater and marine systems and with climate change adaptation. He is proficient with ecological models, situation diagrams and results chains. Most recently he has led CAP planning sessions for karst ecosystems of North America (2008), poaching of wildlife in four East African countries (2008), headwater rivers of the Southeast US (2007) and coastal and marine projects in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia (2006).
Rob has teamed with Andrew Bridges and Quinn Shurtliff to offer workshops for land management and planning practitioners in the Open Standards through a collaborative called NaturePlan. Below are the upcoming workshops that they are offering.
Upcoming Workshops
Results-Based Management using the
Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation
February 27th (evening) through March 1st, 2018
Welder Wildlife Foundation, Sinton, Texas
This workshop will teach participants the overarching philosophy, underlying principles, and specific steps of effective conservation planning based on the globally used Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation (http://cmp-openstandards.org/). Participants will learn and practice how to identify key conservation and human well-being outcomes, prioritize threats and potential interventions, develop conceptual models that describe the ecological and social context of the project, incorporate empirical data and expert knowledge, and establish a monitoring program that supports adaptive management. In addition to improving attendees’ effectiveness in planning and practicing management and conservation, the workshop will provide valuable tools for preparing grant applications, evaluating project plans, and communicating with funding agencies, the scientific community, and laypersons. The two-day workshop is comprised of training modules introducing key Open Standards concepts, followed by break-out sessions where students apply these concepts to real-world projects. Miradi Software (which supports the Open Standards) also will be demonstrated. Workshop participants will be eligible for 13.5 Continuing Education Units in Category I of The Wildlife Society Certified Wildlife Biologist Renewal/Professional Development Certificate Program.
The workshop will be held at The Rob & Bessie Welder Wildlife Foundation, a 7,800 acre refuge and birding hotspot located adjacent to the Aransas River on the Texas Gulf Coast. An optional birdwatching fieldtrip will be available following the workshop. For more information on the refuge, visit http://www.welderwildlife.org
Registration is $795/student. All registrations include catered meals and 3 nights lodging.