Prominent conservation researcher and scientist Peter Kareiva, who has played roles in developing worldwide conservation programs, is the director of the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability effective immediately, officials announced Monday.
“We were looking for someone who is a top-notch scholar and researcher, who is a great leader and Peter is both of those things,” said Jon Christensen, an assistant professor in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, who has known and worked with Kareiva for about 15 years and also participated in the search for the new director. “Peter’s work as a researcher has transformed conservation science and has garnered him respect from his peers.”
In addition to his role as director, Kareiva said he plans to remain active in the Nature Conservancy, one of the world’s largest environmental nonprofit organization dedicated to conservation, where he was vice president and developed many conservation programs with the government and other nonprofit organizations.
As director of the institute, Kareiva said he plans to work with Noah Garrison, the Environmental Science Practicum director, to improve the environmental science major and the institute by developing stronger relationships between students, faculty and the community.
Garrison said he and Kareiva, who will also become a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCLA, are working on a seminar-style upper-division research course in the institute for the environmental science major, aimed at studying urban nature.
“Peter understands that solving our environmental challenges will not just require science and policy, but the humanities and arts as well,” Christensen said. “The practicum is a great example of Peter’s interdisciplinary approach, as he is transforming conservation science using an evidence-based approach.”
Kareiva added he hopes to offer a larger variety of courses and build relationships between students and researchers for more opportunities to conduct research.
“While much of what we do (at UCLA) is scientific research, it is also important how you communicate science, how you use it to make policy changes and how you change the way people interact with the world and the environment,” Garrison said. “Peter is really invested in helping students make those changes, not just performing the science.”