Graduate students and knowledge exchange with local stakeholders: possibilities and preparation

Tropical biologists are exploring ways to expand their role as researchers through knowledge exchange with local stakeholders. Graduate students are well positioned for this broader role, particularly when supported by graduate programs. We ask: (1) how can graduate students effectively engage in knowledge exchange during their research; and (2) how can university programs prepare young scientists to take on this partnership role? We present a conceptual framework with three levels at which graduate students can exchange knowledge with stakeholders (information sharing, skill building, and knowledge generation) and discuss limitations of each. Examples of these strategies included disseminating preliminary research results to southern African villages, building research skills of Brazilian undergraduate students through semester-long internships, and jointly developing and implementing a forest ecology research and training program with one community in the Amazon estuary. Students chose strategies based on stakeholders' interests, research goals, and a realistic evaluation of student capacity and skill set. As strategies became more complex, time invested, skills mobilized, and strength of relationships between students and stakeholders increased. Graduate programs can prepare students for knowledge exchange with partners by developing specialized skills training, nurturing external networks, offering funding, maximizing strengths of universities in developed and developing regions through partnership, and evaluating knowledge exchange experiences. While balancing the needs of academia with those of stakeholders is challenging, the benefits of enhancing local scientific capacity and generating more locally relevant research for improved conservation may be worth the risks associated with implementing this type of graduate training model

Etnobotânica nordestina: estudo comparativo da relação entre comunidades e vegetação na Zona do Litoral - Mata do Estado de Pernambuco, Brasil Northeast Ethnobotany: links between communities and vegetation of the Coast Zone of the Mata Region in Pernambuco State, Brazil

O trabalho visa determinar as relações entre comunidades e vegetação na Zona da Mata de Pernambuco. A comunidade da Usina São José (Igarassu - Ig) é formada por vilas rurais, vizinhas da Reserva Ecológica da Mata da Usina São José. Jaguarana (Paulista-Pa) é uma comunidade urbana, próxima à Reserva Ecológica da Mata de Jaguarana. Levantou-se as plantas úteis para estas comunidades por meio de 38 entrevistas não-estruturadas, enquadrando-as nas categorias de uso alimentação, comércio, construção, mágico, medicinal, tecnológico e outros. Foram registradas 334 espécies, nativas e cultivadas. Comparou-se as comunidades, através do Quociente de Similaridade de Sørensen (Qs), obtendo-se maiores índices para plantas alimentícias (QsIgPa= 0,71), predominantemente cultivadas, e medicinais (QsIgPa= 0,56), 45,1% delas nativas, predominantemente herbáceas. A vegetação nativa constitui uma fonte importante de recursos medicinais mas é subutilizada como fonte de alimento e tem pouca relevância na visão cosmológica das comunidades. Os vegetais não têm relevância na atividade de comércio, servindo como complemento de renda para as famílias (QsIgPa= 0,30). Na categoria construção enquadram-se, majoritariamente, espécies nativas (87,8%) e arbóreas (92,7%). Em tecnologia têm maior representatividade espécies nativas (85,7%) e arbóreo/arbustivas (84,1%). As comunidades utilizam diferentes fontes vegetais para as categorias construção, mágica, tecnologia e outros, decorrentes tanto das principais atividades que nelas exercem seus moradores, como dos recursos naturais à sua disposição.<br>The objective of this work is to determine the social behaviour concerning the consumption of vegetal species by local communities. The involved localities are: the Usina São José (Igarassu - Ig), which involves rural communities in the surroundings of the Ecological Reserve of the Usina São José and the Jaguarana (Paulista - PE), an urban settlement located in the neighbourhoods of the Ecological Reserve of Jaguarana. Structured interviews were applied to these social groups, addressing 38 people, in order to identify the most useful plants and the correspondent use. These were classified into categories food, commerce, constrution, ritualistic, medicinal, technological and "others". Among these types, 334 native and introduced species were registered. The different communities were analysed and compared through the Sørensen Similarity Quotient (Qs). The higher incidence is of feeding plants (QsIgPa= 0.71), predominantly cropped and medical plants (QsIgPa= 0.56), from which 45.1% are natives and herbaceous. The native vegetation constitutes an important source of medicines. However, it has no relevance as food within the cosmological view of the community. Vegetables are irrelevant as timber in the trade sector, for income generation (QsIgPa= 0.30). For building proposals most species are native (87.8%) and tree (92.7%). For technological purpose the native species (85.7%) and the tree/shrub (84.1%), are the most representative category. The communities use different types of vegetal resource for the construction, ritualistic and technology among other categories, as a result of their main activities and of the available natural resources