Planning and Policy Development to Protect Natural Resources

Additional partners: University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center; Dirección de Zona Federal Marítimo Terrestre de la Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales; Colegio de Biólogos del Tecnológico de Chetumal; Amigos del Manatí; Amigos de Sian Ka’an; University of New Mexico Latin American and Iberian Institute.

Universidad de Quintana Roo identified a need in Southeastern Mexico, particularly in the State of Quintana Roo, for high-quality applied scholarship and teaching. Such educational leadership was needed to inform critical ecological planning and policy decisions for the management of the region's rich natural resources.

This partnership brought together the resources and expertise of the two lead institutions—the University of New Mexico and the Universidad de Quintana Roo—with additional support from the University of Rhode Island’s Coastal Resources Center, Dirección de Zona Federal Marítimo Terrestre de la Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT), Colegio de Biólogos del Tecnológico de Chetumal, Amigos del Manatí, Amigos de Sian Ka’an, and the University of New Mexico's Latin American and Iberian Institute (LAII).

The partnership drew upon the various expertise and commitments of the partner universities to develop a proposed Natural Resources Planning and Management (NRPM) Graduate Program at Universidad de Quintana Roo. That program, the Programa Postgrado de Planeación (PPP), was approved by the universidad's governing body before the TIES grant was awarded.

To accomplish the goals of the project, the partnership engaged in PPP program development that included building collaborative institutional relationships, outreach, and community development.