Advancing Graduate Education

in the Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Dr. Thomas J. Dormody, Dean of the Graduate School, CATIE

HACU 10th International Conference

San Antonio, TX

Plenary Session II, Friday March 1

What is CATIE?

CATIE brings science, graduate education and innovation together to

increase human well-being through integrated management of

agriculture and natural resources in rural territories throughout Latin

America and the Caribbean.

CATIE´s Strength

Integration of three functions based

on integrated and collaborative approaches

Innovation for

Development

Graduate Education Research

CATIE is an International Land-Grant University

A Relevant Mission

Increase human well-being and reduce

rural poverty through education,

research and technical cooperation,

promoting sustainable agriculture and

natural resource management.

Innovative Scientific Programs

An Inter-American Organization

Headquarters:

Turrialba, Costa Rica

National technical offices:

Bolivia

El Salvador

Guatemala

Honduras

Nicaragua

Panama

Dominican Republic

Belize

Acre, Brazil

Mexico Venezuela (upcoming)

CATIE’s Place in the

World of Higher Education

A Challenging Strategy

CATIE’s niche is in the development of system and collaborative

approaches and the professionals who can apply these approaches to

facilitate innovative and sustainable solutions to the complex

challenges facing agriculture and natural resources in Latin America,

the Caribbean, and other tropical areas of the world.

Climate Smart Territories

Innovating graduate education

• Three main factors framing the

advancement of CATIE’s Graduate

Programs in agriculture and

environmental sciences:

– 2012 independent external evaluation

– 2013-2022 strategic planning process

– Financial realities of this economic

period

• As a result of these, the CATIE

Graduate School is going in new

directions with a more entrepreneurial

approach to education

The Future for Graduate

Education at CATIE

Diplomas and specializations

• CATIE is offering or conceptualizing new diplomas and one-year

specializations in English and Spanish

• for current CATIE students.

• for graduate students from other countries and institutions who

want to have some of their studies at CATIE in order to tap into

our knowledge base.

Diplomas and specializations

• We’ve identified six specializations and

13 diplomas. Some examples:

− Diploma in Climate-Smart Agriculture in

Tropical Regions

− Diploma in Water, Economics, and

Climate Change

− Diploma in Small Business Development

− Diploma in Inclusion and Equity

− Diploma in Planning and Local

Governance

− International Specialization in Tropical

Agroforestry

Professional Master’s Programs

• Conservation Practice for Biodiversity (new with assistance from the

US Fish and Wildlife Service)

• Development Practice (one of a network of 26 MacArthur

Foundation-funded programs worldwide)

• International Agribusiness Management (with the INCAE Business

School)

• Sustainable International Tourism (with the University of North

Texas)

• Entrepreneurial business models allow for the development of

related diplomas, specializations, and study abroad programs

Professional Master’s Programs

• Master’s in Green Growth for Human Security: Paradigms, Policies,

Technologies and Best Practices

− Proposed to the Global Green Growth Initiative

− Consortium members: CATIE, Earth University, INCAE, University of

Peace, and InBio

− Three different diplomas and a capstone field experience combine into

the Master’s

− Distance education courses and courses in Costa Rica

M.Sc. Programs

• Degree options

− Environmental Socioeconomics

− Integrated Watershed

Management

− Management and Conservation

of Tropical Forests and

Biodiversity

− Sustainable Agricultural

Systems

− Tropical Agroforestry

Scholarship fundraising strategy

• Fundraising coordinator

• Fundraising plan

• Capacity-building grant

• Seeking scholarship donors

• Also seeking donors for

endowed teaching chairs

and new classrooms

Ph.D. Programs

• Representative research areas

− Biodiversity conservation and ecosystem function in tropical landscapes

− Climate change

− Integrated watershed and water resource management

− Modeling and dynamics of carbon balances in diverse landscapes

− Socio-economic and policy analysis of natural resources and agricultural production systems

− Sustainable production systems in tropical agriculture, agroforestry, and forestry

Degree options for Ph.D. Programs

• Jointly with the University of Idaho

• Jointly with Bangor University in the United Kingdom

• CATIE program with prestigious cooperating universities

− In-English with US and European cooperators

− New in-Spanish option with Latin American and Spanish cooperators being developed/discussed

The growing role of distance education

• Need for courses, diplomas, and

degree programs

• Strong partnership between the

Graduate School and our training

program that is starting to offer

technical courses and technical

diplomas in a distance format

− Sharing leadership, personnel,

and other resources to serve

both academic and technical

education needs in distance

education

South/South concept applied

to graduate education

• CATIE-Africa Focus on Education scholarship program to bring

talented African students to CATIE for graduate study

− Early partners

• FAO African ambassadors

• EARTH University

• African Women in Agricultural Research and Development

Thank you!

Contact details:

Thomas J. Dormody, Dean of the Graduate

School, CATIE

tdormody@catie.ac.cr Tel: +506-2558-2422

www.catie.ac.cr