The University of North Texas Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program (SBCP) was represented at the Ecology Society of America (ESA)'s 102nd Annual Meeting held in Portland, Oregon, where Dr. Ricardo Rozzi of UNT's Department of Philosophy was a featured speaker at a storytelling event, "Before the Abstract," hosted by The Story Collider in partnership with Springer Nature.

Dr. Rozzi told the inspirational story that led to his discovery of the "Miniature Forests of Cape Horn" and "Ecotourism with a Hand-Lens" as part of his work leading the proposal for the creation of the UNESCO Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve. The podcast will be made available at http://www.beforetheabstract.com/ricardo-rozzi-2/

ESA is one of the world's most recognized ecology meetings with more than 4,500 participants from around the world presenting diverse works in the field. Dr. Rozzi, editor-in-chief of the Springer book series Ecology and Ethics, was also invited to participate as an expert panelist for a session on "Biodiversity and Human Diversity for Ecosystem Health and Sustainability in a World of Change."

The SBCP is coordinated jointly by the Universidad de Magallanes and the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity in Chile, and the University of North Texas in the United States. This year the international Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program will break ground on the construction of a world-class research and education facility the world's southernmost town of Puerto Williams, the Sub-Antarctic Cape Horn Center. The UNT Faculty-Led study abroad course, Tracing Darwin's Path is taught each wintermester in Chile by UNT-SBCP faculty Drs. Ricardo Rozzi, Jaime Jimenez, and James Kennedy. Interested students can enroll and find more information at https://studyabroad.unt.edu/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.ViewProgram&Program_ID=10005

Photograph by Stuart Pollock