MEXICO — Six faculty members from diverse U.S. educational institutions recently traveled to Mexico City and the state of Oaxaca, to participate in the first faculty fellowship program and international study tour of the Forest Service Overseas Environmental Experience. 

Also known as FORSEE, it provides fellows with firsthand exposure to international environmental conservation and development efforts, helping them to then bring those valuable lessons back to their students. By incorporating their experiences, fellows foster a richer, globally informed approach to environmental stewardship and natural resource management back in the United States.

As neighbors, the United States and Mexico share many of the same natural resource management challenges, such as managing invasive species and wildland fires. The Forest Service and the U.S. Agency for International Development, more commonly known as USAID, work closely with the Mexican government, indigenous groups, universities and non-governmental organizations to tackle shared challenges and conserve critical forests and landscapes that support livelihoods and health on both sides of the border.

FORSEE Fellows visited several indigenous communities in the Sierra Juárez region of Oaxaca, all of which have won international stewardship awards for their innovation and leadership in managing, utilizing and conserving natural resources sustainably, for future generations. They engaged with USAID/Mexico colleagues to learn about mission priorities and programs within the Government of Mexico, and they met with university partners to observe research efforts aimed at combatting illegal logging across North America.

Feeling energized by the community-driven conservation initiatives the FORSEE Fellows returned from their Mexico experience, inspired by new insights and tools, they were eager to share the lessons with their students back home.

"During the Chapultepec Park visit, I experienced hope," said Erim Gomes, a FORSEE Fellow and Assistant Professor of Wildlife Biology at the University of Montana. "Through that experience I learned that trees provided tangible economic benefits. Now, I intend to use the i-Tree app for a class activity."

Chapultepec Park is the oldest urban park in Latin America, and it is also one of the largest. Known as the lungs of Mexico City, it provides invaluable ecological, cultural and social benefits to both city residents and visitors alike. And it provided a fitting backdrop to explore i-Tree, a free online software application developed by the Forest Service and our partners.  Designed to help urban planners and government officials, i-Tree quantifies the benefits of trees, and it helps users make decisions about what and where they should plant.

In the morning before visiting Chapultepec Park, FORSEE Fellows visited the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City to meet with representatives from USAID. USAID funds the Forest Service implemented FORSEE program to encourage a broader group of Americans to become involved in international development and natural resource management, internationalize their colleges and universities, and to learn about how to work with USAID. USAID Mexico Mission Director, Jene Thomas, shared an overview of USAID's initiatives, priorities and partnerships in Mexico.

USAID invests in sustainable environmental stewardship to protect the environment, build healthier populations, preserve livelihoods and to create new economic opportunities. And the FORSEE Fellows represent institutions that have been historically underrepresented in these fields.

Pamela "Mela" Scheffler, a FORSEE Fellow and Professor of Geography, Biology and Environmental Science at the University of Hawaii, Hawaii Community College, described the awe that she felt when visiting the herbarium at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

"There were so many specimens collected and preserved across institutions and across centuries and the people working there are so dedicated... I intend to try to impart that same sense of awe that I felt to my students when we talk biodiversity and species identification," said Scheffler.

FORSEE Fellows will share their experiences and insights with their students and develop personalized learning agendas that connect cultures to enrich curricula and advance conservation and community efforts.