Press Releases

April 2, 2010 | Kinship Conservation Fellows today announced the selection of their ninth cohort of Fellows. Of the 18 Fellows, 8 come from the United States, while the remaining 10 will travel from Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Liberia, Sweden, Thailand and the United Kingdom to attend the month-long program in Bellingham, Washington. From June 22nd to July 23rd, Kinship Fellows will engage in seminars and mentoring sessions with elite faculty, participate in working groups with peers, and advance their commitment to conservation by developing a project of importance to their work.

Kinship Conservation Fellows are typically mid-career field practitioners with an interest in market-based conservation principles and a demonstrated commitment to leadership. "We have a remarkable mix of Fellows joining us this year," said the Kinship Conservation Fellows Director Jim Tolisano. "The 2010 Kinship program will bring together practitioners engaged in some of the world's most innovative and exciting conservation work, ranging from cutting edge programs to protect endangered snow leopards to a wide variety of approaches to help rural communities benefit from environmental services. These individuals have the potential to become some of the world's leading conservationists, and my faculty and I are very much looking forward to working with them."

During the month at Kinship, experienced faculty from the front lines will instruct Fellows in business principles, environmental economics, and the use of effective planning and organizational tools. Additionally, the Kinship curriculum will focus Fellows on their own projects as case studies of the market principles they learn. Combined with weekly mentoring sessions, Kinship's tailored emphasis on Fellows' own work renders theoretical economic and business principles both relevant and accessible to conservation practitioners.

Continuing their learning, the 2010 cohort will investigate environmental issues of the Pacific Northwest ecosystem through a field visit into the North Cascades and presentations by thriving local sustainable industries. In addition to Kinship's unique case study method, visits into the field bring Fellows face-to-face with practical applications of leadership, business, and economic theories. This method reinforces Kinship Conservation Fellows' focus on concrete conservation successes while preparing the 2010 Fellows to implement market-based principles and continue Kinship's commitment to environmental leadership when they return to the field.

Highlights of Kinship Conservation Fellows Include:

• Renowned faculty


• Focus on market-based approaches


• Development of leadership, business and economic skills


• Hands-on project development


• Fellows Network


• $6,000 stipend, lodging and meals

ABOUT KINSHIP
In 2006, Kinship Conservation Fellows became the new name for the groundbreaking program that launched in 2001 as the Kinship Conservation Institute. Kinship's mission is to develop a community of leaders dedicated to applying market-based principles to environmental issues. For more information about Kinship Conservation Fellows contact Sarah Knobloch at (847) 714-1702, sarah.knobloch@kinshiptrustco.com, or visit www.KinshipFellows.org.