The key to long-term success with raptor conservation is conservation leadership: investing in the development of tomorrow’s conservation professionals. It is how we safeguard the future of raptor populations while saving birds today. We’re excited to congratulate four recent graduates and grantees of The Peregrine Fund: Jaime Luis Zabarburu, Jose Manuel Camarena, Delphin Rasolonjatovo, and Joan Banda! 

Neotropical Student Education Program grantees Jaime Luis Zabarburu and Jose Manuel Camarena recently graduated with degrees in Forest Engineering from the National University Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza in Peru. (Jaime and Jose are seen pictured at left above in the field; Jaime is on the left, Jose on the right.) They jointly conducted research to determine habitat requirements and anthropogenic threats affecting the Vulnerable Long-whiskered Owlet (pictured at right above), a species with less than 1,000 individuals occurring in a small region in northern Peru. 

Delphin Rasolonjatovo, a student with The Peregrine Fund’s Madagascar Program, recently graduated from the University of Toliara in Madagascar with a PhD studying Biodiversity and Tropical Environments. Delphin published the results of his research on the Endangered Madagascar Grebe in the journal Afrique Science, which we highlighted in last month’s Notes from the Field! He is seen on the left in the left photo below, along with Madagascar Program Director Dr. Lily-Arison Rene de Roland.

Joan Banda, the first recipient of the African Raptor Leadership Grant, just completed her Master’s degree at The A.P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute in Nigeria. She examined belief-based use of owls in communities near Key Biodiversity Areas in Nigeria. (Joan is seen wearing a white bucket hat in the photo at right above, speaking to a community.) The information obtained from her research will be used to guide education, outreach, and conservation initiatives moving forward. 

Congratulations, graduates!