PUERTO WILLIAMS, Chile – During the past academic year, the University of Georgia’s Institute of Ecology in collaboration with the Omora Foundation, a Chilean nonprofit research and education organization, began a new study abroad program to train undergraduates in the multidisciplinary nature of biological and cultural conservation. This joint venture allows UGA students the opportunity to do research and internships in the sub-Antarctic forests of the Tierra del Fuego and Cape Horn region of Chile, identified by Conservation International as one of the 37 most pristine ecosystems remaining on the planet. The opportunities with Omora also are available to faculty and graduate students and include projects as diverse as ecotourism, marine biology, ethnobotany and economics.
“The collaborations initiated with UGA have contributed significantly to our programs,” said Ricardo Rozzi, president of the Omora Foundation. “The opportunity for Georgia students and faculty to contribute to the development of this region is tremendous. We hope that our relationship with UGA can continue to grow as we see it of mutual benefit.”
The relationship between UGA and Omora began in 2001 during the 7th Congress of the International Society of Ethnobotany held in Athens. At that time the UGA Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies launched the Network of Latin American Ethnobotanical Sister Gardens, which includes the UGA Latin American Ethnobotanical Garden and the Omora Ethnobotanical Park. The Omora Park is a 400 hectare long-term research site as well as an “outdoor” classroom where students and teachers from schools and universities can learn about and explore the biological and cultural heritage of the Tierra del Fuego and Cape Horn areas.
In 2002 UGA’s Institute of Ecology signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Omora to promote mutual projects of interest in the areas of ecology, education and conservation. The first product of the MOU was implemented this year with a study abroad program for students to visit and study in southern Chile
Devin Thomas Moody, a recreation and leisure studies major with an emphasis in resource management from Carlton, spent the fall semester of 2003 in Chile. During his internship, he assisted in stream ecology projects on Navarino Island. He also coordinated the logistics and assisted in carrying out an Earthwatch Institute expedition for 10 days to study the owls of the Cape Horn Archipelago. The internship completed by Moody with Omora allowed him to not only study but practice the integration of science and tourism, two objectives of his major field of study and planned career goal.
Clayton Ross Griffith, an ecology major from Stone Mountain, visited the Omora Ethnobotanical Park during the spring semester of 2004. While in residence he too assisted in various research projects, including a boat expedition through the channels and fjords around Tierra del Fuego. In addition, he conducted his own undergraduate honors thesis research. Griffith’s thesis topic addresses the impact of the North American beaver (Castor canadensis) on stream-side vegetation. The beaver is an introduced species that has invaded much of the Tierra del Fuego region and altered the ecology of both forests and streams. Consequently Griffith’s research is of interest not only to the Omora Foundation but also to regional authorities who are planning control policies for this exotic species.
The Omora Foundation is based in Puerto Williams, Chile, the world’s southernmost town. Puerto Williams is located on Navarino Island, wedged between Tierra del Fuego and Cape Horn at 55o south latitude, or the equivalent of Juneau, Alaska, in the Northern Hemisphere. Since 2000 Omora has worked to understand this little-studied end of the world via numerous ecological and ethnological research projects. That primary information gathered through research then is diffused through the publication of scientific, educational and popular books, articles and audio-visual materials.
Efforts are underway to improve social well-being through conservation by means of creating the Cape Horn World Biosphere Reserve, which will allow a sustainable development strategy for the whole region.
For more information, visit www.ecology.uga.edu and www.omora.org.
