RMBL’s 5th Annual Geek Week!
August 3 – 7, 2015
RMBL’s 5th Annual Geek Week events are designed for adults with an interest in the workings of nature. Our theme this year is “The Future of Conservation” – a critical intersection of science and policy. Please join us and indulge your curiosity! Click here for the list of paid programs and free public events.
Keynote – The Future of Conservation: Drawing on Experiences from the World Bank and Beyond
Dr. Colin Rees, Environmental Advisor, World Bank
August 3, 7:30 – 9:00 p.m. at the Mallardi Theatre in Crested Butte, FREE
Conservation — perhaps the ultimate multidisciplinary activity — attempts to bring the most rigorous analysis to bear on environmental issues and present findings in a form understandable to decision-makers and the general public. However, its success continues to be partial largely because of its failure to effectively engage political and socioeconomic domains, especially in the policy area. Many of the tools are in place, so why is the conservation movement finding traction so difficult? The talk will be enlivened with case studies on country and local levels.
Dr. Colin Rees is a life-long birder/natural scientist and has devoted his entire career to conservation of the natural environment. He holds a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin and was a faculty member of the Zoology Department, University of Maryland. Later he conducted research as an environmental consultant in the UK and was Head of the Environment Unit of the Asian Development Bank (Manila) and founding member and President of the Haribon Foundation for the Conservation of Natural Resources, the largest NGO in the Philippines.
In 1988, he joined the World Bank where he was a Biodiversity Specialist with the Asia Region and Division Chief with the Land, Water and Natural Habitat Division of the Environment Department working on environmental and biodiversity conservation . Subsequently, he was Team Leader for the Global Environment Facility tasked with providing overall strategic direction and intellectual leadership for policy and program development in the area of biodiversity conservation.
Since retirement, he has consulted for the World Bank and other multilateral agencies on a variety of topics covering biodiversity conservation and the management of natural resources as well as education and training on environmental safeguards.
In Maryland, Colin Rees has been supporting efforts to conserve bird populations and their habitats — frequently working with state and national bird conservation organizations. He is a former President of the Anne Arundel Bird Club (and formally its President), Chair of the Long-range Planning Committee of the Maryland Ornithological Society and is currently helping establish a bird observatory at the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary – part of the National Estuarine Research Reserve System. He also provides many presentations on ornithology and related topics in the region.
Colin Rees is the author of many scientific papers and co-author of Birds of the Philippines and Birds of a Feather: A Seasonal Changes on Both Sides of the Atlantic. The Philippines: A Natural History is in press and A History of Ornithology is in preparation.
https://rmbl.wufoo.com/forms/w1c9v0q103wk11n/