Why a course in Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation at UESC?
The State University of Santa Cruz (UESC) has a long history with projects and actions towards biodiversity conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources. This University has always had an important institutional role in practically all actions and strategies related to biodiversity conservation in southern Bahia, both by governmental demand (federal, state and municipal) and by demands of organized civil societies (NGOs). The main contribution of UESC in this process has been the technical referral of these actions, providing society and government with the information obtained through research, as well as actions from extension projects together with the community. Some exemples are: Projeto Aliança dos Saberes, Observatório Social do Porto Sul, and Chocolate Sul Bahia initiative.
The Postgraduate Course in Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation (PPGECB) is a natural result of this process, coming from our commitment with environmental research. With this course, the university hopes to form a critical mass to act within the ecology field, and to continuously expand its acting scale within Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystem Services.
History
The Postgraduate Program in Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation (PPGECB) at the State University of Santa Cruz (UESC) was created in 2008 (Master's degree only) and received its first students in March 2009. In 2011, the PPGECB started to offer PhD vacancies. Since its creation, the Program has established itself as an international level course, attracting students from abroad, facilitating student exchanges with foreign institutions, and forging partnerships with international researchers. This commitment to global collaboration has reflected in the publications of the program's faculty and students, as well as in successive evaluations by CAPES (Coordination of Superior Level Staff Improvement). In the latest quadrennial assessment (2017-2020), PPGECB achieved a remarkable score of 6. Notably, PPGECB is the first postgraduate program at UESC with a score 6 recognized by CAPES, and the only program in Bahia outside the capital city to achieve this ranking.
Esta internacionalização vem se refletindo nas publicações do corpo docente e discente, bem como nas sucessivas avaliações da CAPES, tendo recebido nota 6 na última avaliação quadrienal (2017-2020). Vale ressaltar que o PPGECB é o primeiro programa de pós-graduação da UESC com nota 6 na avaliação da CAPES, e é o único programa com nota 6 na Bahia vinculado a uma Universidade que está fora da capital.
Why choose the PPGECB?
The PPGECB is an excellent option for those who want to graduate in Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation. The program offers:
• Qualified and experienced professors
• Stimulating and interdisciplinary research environment
• Scholarship program
• Privileged location in one of the most beautiful regions on the Bahian coast, with rich biodiversity and agroforestry landscapes, in which cacao-cabruca stands out
Our logo
Serra da Capivara, northeastern Brazil, 6000 years ago. Human presence in the Americas is reported through archaeological remains, of which the most impressive are by far the rock paintings found in several caves at the Serra da Capivara National Park, southern state of Piaui. And what does that have to do with ecology and biodiversity conservation? Well, everything!
Through those paintings, pre-historic civilizations could document their everyday life, and essentially how they interacted with their environment and natural resources. Like every other species in the planet, the hunter-gatherer man depended in animals such as reptiles and mammals for their survival. More importantly, these images make clear the fundamental differences between humans and other animals - the technological ability to use primitive weapons as hunting gear.
The symbolic image of a primitive man wielding his spear surrounded by various elements of his environment is a reference to the clear importance of nature’s balance and its impact in primitive populations. The study of Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation helps us understand important questions deriving from this consumer-resource relation recorded in the early Amerindian civilization, in the flat lands today occupied my Brazil’s caatinga territory.